Persona Eternal - Enter The Dreamscape
by CrystalMoonlightII
Summary: Rumors are beginning to spread around Tetsuo Academy of people dying in their sleep. Students are beginning to stop turning up for school, and slowly but surely these strange cases are working their way into the media. This story is a fan-made Persona installment set after the forth game. Prepare to enter a mysterious realm of dreams and horrific nightmares. Please read and review!
1. The Start of the Road

**Chapter 1: The Start of the Road**

_This was a journey that took me far too long to deal with. Who else can say at the age of 19 that their Dad transferred to a foreign country for a new job opportunity? In hindsight it's really damn lucky that I had the book smarts on my side to fit in here, otherwise I'd still be stuck back home without my family._

_My story, you ask? I'm a British exchange student over in Japan while my Dad works his new job for the Japanese navy. Oh, it's not a military job or anything! It's more the electronic side of things! He's working on computers and logistics for their defence systems. Since good old dad is the only family I have, I was eligible for a study visa to attend school here while he works. Japan wasn't too heavy a culture shock since I've travelled most of my life. Hong Kong, Vietnam, America, Russia, you name it…_

_I've been here a little over two years now and I'm a senior student of Tetsuo Academy! It's one of those new specialist academy schools that the Japanese rave about. I made a few friends, adjusted to the culture and way of life pretty well. Since I had this sorta, well… You could call it a natural affinity for languages I kinda already knew a few languages by the time I was fifteen. Namely Cantonese, Intermediate Japanese, and it goes without saying, English._

_I bet you're wondering why I'm still attending school at nineteen, right? Well, the education system in their country compared to England is pretty advanced, so it's my way of becoming more qualified. I'm working an extra year to meet the grade so I can apply for a good college in Kyoto. I really want to stay out here and keep studying! Beats my old life back home!_

_Anyway, I totally forgot what I was gonna tell you guys about! There's been some freaky business going on lately! It's been on the news that people all around Harumi City have been admitted to hospital for all kinda weird illnesses. Guys have been falling into coma's at work, dying in their sleep, and collapsing their way home from bars… Anyway… I think I'm gonna leave this journal entry here. I have an advanced Japanese History exam tomorrow. Wish me luck! If I can pass this thing I only need a few more classes until I can finally wrap up school!_

* * *

His pencil kept touching down upon the paper like his very life depending on it. Time was dragging past him at a viciously slow pace, but in truth he needed every second. The walls in the drab white room seemed almost as if they were closing in on him through the stress of his high expectations. He had to do well, if not… Failing meant giving up on the life he had become so very fond of. A wave of sickness suddenly washed over the young man sat at the school desk, the sheer thickness of the atmosphere becoming so heavy that he felt his lungs closing.

***BADUMP.. BADUMP… SLAM***

His head suddenly hit the desk, and everything was enveloped in a veil of oppressive blackness. His senses where no more…

He awoke several hours later to find the lights of a somewhat familiar room gleaming down upon him. The intensity of the brightness was almost like burning a hole in his head. He squinted, his vision blurred beyond any semblance of normality. Through that distorted vision of his he could make out a familiar figure.

"You're awake, Sempai… When Hirano-Kun told me you fainted in the exam I was really worried."

His eyesight slowly came back to him. With a slight grunt of discomfort escaping his lips he adjusted his gaze to fix upon the voice of the young lady sat in the chair at his bedside. He felt exhausted, but all the same he felt some relief that he wasn't alone.

"Asano… You know what I'm like with Japanese history class… If it's not the feudal era I screw it up so bad… I got stressed, and I think I had a panic attack again. I just don't wanna fail, ya know?"

Negumi Asano! She's the captain of the girl's Martial Arts club. By all accounts she really is a serious tomboy! Medium height with long black hair! Eyes that could pierce the soul of a demon along with a fiery temper to match! She may not have the figure of some of the girls in the other classes, but nobody dare tell her that to her face. The last girl that made a comment about her being 'Flat' or underwhelming in appearance ended up spending a few days out of school.

Then again, like she always said to this guy here, "Those girls in the Swim Team don't know Jack about being real women!"

Her dress sense was always pretty unique as well, choosing Denim Pants and a Hoodie over the more conventional summer shorts or dresses that most girls would wear this time of year.

He ended up feeling a little more cheerful over the fact that Miss Asano came to pay him a visit, the little smile on his face proving to be warm and full of gratefulness. He sat upright to examine the scene around him, seeing the familiar diving screen, plain white walls and X-ray chart near the medicine cabinet.

"I'm back in the nurses office again…" A sigh escaped his lips.

Negumi stood up from her seat and a let a little chuckle out. How many times has her friend ended up in here now because of the pre exam stress? Maybe three or four times this year? It's pretty obvious that he pushed himself too hard again…

"It's already six, Sempai." Negumi began.

While Negumi spoke he stood upright and acclimatized to the use of his shaky legs for a moment, quickly adjusting to rid himself of the unease in his balance. He was going to be alright with everything considered.

"Want to walk with me to the Bus Station? I could seriously use the company after my day." He asked rather hopefully.

His lady friend gave a nod which was coupled with a rather sarcastic smile, "Sure thing! I think I can watch your ass. Make sure you don't pass out again on your way back home! Haha!"

He shook his head, rather unimpressed with that statement, but his rather grumpy expression warped into a faint smile in the end. He knew she was worried about him and her friendship really mattered.

"You know Asano-"

However, Negumi quickly cut in before he could finish his sentence, "HOW MANY TIMES? Sempai, I'm sure after all the times I've watched your back, you can call me Negumi-Chan."

He let out a shrug as he opened the door to the nurses office, "Yeah, but you know what girls are like here. I don't wanna complicate shit for you more than already get it from the swim team."

Negumi just let out a hearty little laugh and followed her Sempai out of the room, "To hell with the Swim Team! Karin Saito thinks she owns this place, but trust me, she doesn't!"

With that, the pair began their journey out of school together. They noticed on their way out of school that the place was pretty much deserted and the aura around campus was pretty… cold. Naturally, they didn't waste any time getting out of the building before the janitor started to close the gates. Something just didn't feel right about this place at night time…

* * *

**About an Hour Later**

He was sat on the bus beside Negumi with a rather exhausted expression donning his face. She was doing her usual of relaying the day's events and bitching about all those girls she had to hold back from screaming at for annoying her. He could feel himself on the verge of drifting off. The heating on the drab old evening bus was made even more stifling by the crowd of people returning home from work. Before he fell asleep though he did catch one piece of Negumi's yarn. It made his eyes flutter open.

"Did you about the new girl in Class Three? Her name's Cailin or something! Rumour has it that her brother came down with that sleep sickness everyone's talking about! He's in the hospital right now!"

He let out a brief nod before his head came to rest in the comfy spot in his seat. She was supposedly an exchange student as well. From the whispers he picked up on she was supposed to have an American Dad and a Japanese Mother.

"You mean the girl that transferred back from America? Yeaaahh… I might have heard something before I took my Exam thi-"

Negumi flagged her hand up, "Sempai! Your stop's next! Don't miss it!"

His heart suddenly jumped out of his chest given Negumi's extremely loud increase in volume. Still, he was able to press the stop button on the bus before he missed where he needed to get off. Again, it was all about Negumi saving the day.

When the bus pulled up he gave his 'Saviour' of sorts another grateful smile before he moved for the exit.

"I'll see you tomorrow…" The moment he left the bus he could feel the sudden bitter change in temperature. It really was oppressively cold for the time of year.

After giving a silent nod to prompt his thoughts he found his hand drifting into the pocket of his Uniform. He was fast reaching the door to his and his dad's apartment, "Now… Where did I put those keys?"

* * *

**A couple of hours later: Back in his room**

That coldness from earlier seemed to be consuming his entire room. It was everywhere, all around him, in the very air he was breathing, seeping through the walls, coming up through the floors. He felt his energy totally being sapped from his body to the point where he could no longer stay awake. There was a dull ache in his chest. Before he could guard himself he found his energy slipping away.

His feet tumbled and he slipped over his coffee table, hitting his head with a violent smack on the way down. Before his sense of conscious totally left his body he could sense a brutal aura swirling all around him. Almost like a ghost from another plane of existence it began to rip and bite at what little sense of life he had left, like it was trying to pull his soul away…

"**We will see if you are capable of surviving the night…."**

His vision faded to blackness. His body was just not capable of moving any longer. Something was just not right about any of this…

Eventually, his eyes would come open for one final time, yet the place where he found himself was quite alien. It had a sense of timeless existence to it, like it was somehow separated from the place that he called home. Yet, it still continued to exist in a realm totally detached from any sense of normal reality.

He saw a man sat opposite him in a large desk. His long nose jutted out and his eyes had a sense of madness to them. In his hand, was a piece of paper?

"Welcome, to the Velvet room…" He spoke in a tone of authority.

Slowly, he slid the paper he was holding across the mahogany desk in which he sat, and handed the young man a pen which radiated with a magical aura.

"My name is Igor. You, young man, are one of many with the potential to save the lives of the innocent who are falling victim to a curse of blackness… However…"

The man who named himself as Igor let a sinister little snigger escape his lips, and continued to eye the young man before him with a gaze of curiosity.

"You must sign your name… By doing so, you agree that any choices you make in the times ahead will be of your own free will."

WHAT? This was crazy? The young man who had no sense of what was going on was still just as baffled as before, yet… Yet there something about this whole line of conversation that just felt right and believable to him.

His name touched down upon the paper, and slowly he signed his name on the magical piece of parchment.

'_**Mike Lennox'**_

The young man, who now identified himself as Mike quickly, felt another wave of nausea wash over him. Before he could say another word he felt his form slump in a heap on the couch in which he sat. Igor was chuckling rather coldly.

"Good, my boy…" Igor smiled.

His old crooked hand rose from its resting place on the table and pointed at Mike, "It would seem that Tamiko is the one who has answered your calling. May her power of the mind serve you well. Now, for your test… I wish you well in the Dreamscape…"

When Mike awoke his eyes shot open and he let out a loud yell! His heartbeat was like the thunder of Thor in its pattern of furious beating! He couldn't breathe… The atmosphere all around was thick with heat and pain, the oppression threatening to consume him…

He jumped out of bed hurriedly, and yelled! At first glance this place looked like his normal room, but he wasn't alone. The aura he felt before his earlier collapsing was still very much there. It had grown hungry, lustful and sadistic. It's very presence was threatening to shred the entire room apart just to extend its disfigured hand out to touch him!

"Something's really fucked up about this place…. This can't be my room… It's just a dream… Has to be…"

Suddenly that very same aura he was sensing came melting through the walls, destroying the very sense of reality in a mere instant. The entire room melted down into a pool of coloured sludge and oozed into the cracks that remained of the floor, and before Mike, stood a decomposing figure with a truly satanic look in its eyes. Screams ripped into his mind! Screams that were emitting from the monstrous being standing before him.

It resembled a zombie in some ways! The flesh on its entire body was rotted and decomposing, black blood oozing from the exposed cracks in the maggoty substance called flesh which clung to its bones. The saliva within this unholy monster's mouth was tainted and bloody, and its eyes bore a look of pure insanity beyond any sense of saving!

"**This is but a dream, child…." **The demonic beast spoke.

It suddenly began to drag its decaying form closer, rotting arms outstretched.

"**However, the Dreamscape is our world, and YOU SHALL NEVER WAKE!"**

Out of nowhere the soulless fiend sprung up and lunged at Mike, who feared for his life within this fucked up realm of false reality. Yet this would not be his time to die. Mere moments before the hands of the monster touched the scruff of his uniform a powerful blue light erupted from his entire body, and he felt a surge of power come erupting forth from his inner being.

"Thou art I, and I am thou…" Uttered a strong and confident female voice!

From the aura of power radiating from Mike's body came the ghostly form of a woman! She had a pale skin tone with intimidating brown eyes. A blood red gloss covered her delicate lips! The curves of her womanly form were covered by an exquisite gothic dress, and in her slender white fingers she held a deck of Fifty-Two playing cards. One side of her face was the purest pale white, while the other was tainted and scarred a soulless black. It was as if she was a reflexion of both the light and the darkness of the world incarnate! Her most striking figure was her hair! Being jet black, it pooled down her back and touched the ground where her dress flowed at her feet!

She stepped forward in seeming defence of Mike, and took a card from the deck of Fifty Two that was clasped in her pristine white hands, "I am your Persona, Tamiko. A true reflexion of the light and darkness that dwell within the depths of your soul. I am you, and you are me."

"**AHHHH! The bastard is one of THEM!" **The monster snarled from filth encrusted lips.

Tamiko's ghostly white form hovered toward the monster in the manner of an icy wraith. When her powerful brown eyes fell upon the playing card in her hand those brown eyes of hers became a soulless black and they started to bleed.

"The Ace of Hearts sings your demise, demon… For it is the card of Our true calling…"

She held out that card with a cold expression of doom and uttered forth a demonic chant in a broken and forgotten language, but before she could do anything, the Monster had already passed through Tamiko quickly and raked the side of her master's chest!

"**LIGHTS OUT!"**

Mike's body hit the floor of this distorted dream world. Blood was pouring freely from the giant gash like wound in his chest and he let out a shallow cough of agony.

"I'm gonna die here… But… if this is a dream… You can't die, right?"

Demonic hands began to erupt and flail through the wooden flooring of the room! They were tying to pull Mike under to the depths of the abyss! Tamiko stood, and began to fade again like the ghostly being she was…

At the last moment, when the Brit thought it was all to late, he heard a voice! A SCREAM IN FACT!

It was Negumi!

"SEMPAI!" She rushed at the monster and kicked it square in the head, making it grunt in a rather pissed off way. It seemed like the young Martial artist had truly appeared from nowhere!

While the Monster had its attention fixed on her she held her hands out and began to breathe nervously. The demon was coming for her now. However, she didn't seem to be backing away…

"COME FORTH, FLARE!"

She clasped her hands together tightly and a flame-like aura began to swirl around her entire body, incinerating her clothing and consuming her natural form in a vale of fire. Her ladylike areas remained covered by the swath of burning flames that danced around her slender thin body, but the rest of her bare skin was exposed to the oppressive air of the room she found herself in. How Miss Asano got in here is anybody's guess. Perhaps most surprising was the towering form which she had called forth from the depths of the dream world.

There she stood, with a towering muscle bound man at her side. He was clothed in a tattered martial arts uniform, and a ball of pure fire was swirling in his palm. His skin was scarred with the toughness of tree bark, and his scruffy brown hair reached just past the bottom of his neck.

Negumi smiled nervously, and snapped her fingers.

"Persona…"

The Giant stood at her side lunged at the demon with a roar….

**End of Chapter 1**

**Hope you enjoyed this, and there's much more to come!  
**


	2. The Arcana of Strength

**Chapter 2 The Arcana of Strength**

The hulking juggernaut under Negumi's command let out a massive roar coupled with unyielding determination! He went bounding into the demonic creature from the abyss without a single shred of earthly remorse!

"**Not good enough I'm afraid, girl. I'll be taking the soul of this man tonight…"**

In response to Negumi's offense the Demon went sliding back with a truly evil shriek! He doubled back into the corner of the half melted room. The gaze of its slimy black eyes became fixed on the Japanese Martial Artist. The aura this thing was projecting outward was truly horrifying, and all the while Mike was been dragged further and further beneath the floor…

"DAMMIT, FLARE!" Negumi yelled at the colossus attacking the demonic Ghoul. Her eyes narrowed violently, and her towering bodyguard quickly got the message.

"_I unleash the true power within… The true affinity of my heart… Persona, HEAR MY CALL!"_

The room suddenly shook from corner to corner like it was going to implode. It was as if the very world around Negumi and the demon was falling apart. Her brutish warrior, now identified as Flare roared a gargantuan battle cry of epic proportions. The aura radiating from Negumi, who was still engaged in fire, exploded forth from her body like a wave of energy to charge Flare with even greater power.

That was when the Monster attacking Mike finally stood back for a moment. A skin crawling chortle escaped from his cancerous, decayed lips, and he glared an evil glare at Flare.

"**You clearly aren't an ordinary being… I see that now… That will only make your spirit even more delectable to rip clean from the confines of your body!"**

In a mind numbing howl of pain the creature brought forth jagged claws from his decomposing fingers. In one amazingly fast, almost blurred moment, he lunged at Flare.

"**DIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" **The claws of the Ghoul-like monster went veering straight toward Negumi's massive protector.

His well-built form braced like a Spartan wall to repel the incoming attack. There he remained; anchored to the ground, stood firm in preparation to guard against what was to come. He watched and waited for the perfect moment. Time seemed to melt away like it no longer applied to the world…

Flare's mind was calculating at incredible speed. Every minor detail was watched and picked up upon in the blink of an eye. The claws the creature was brandishing were getting ever closer, its sickening expression still drunk on the glee of an impending kill.

Yet the moment that claw like talon came within an inch of Flare's mighty form, everything changed like lightning.

***CRACK…CRACK…SNAP***

The arms of the demon where reached out for in a single blur of ungodly speed. From there Flare proceeded to rip them both clean from the body of the inhuman abomination. It howled a vicious melody of pain before oozing black blood pooled around its broken form. Like acid, that blood melted holes into the floor and the Monster collapsed back into a heap.

"**I-Impossible… I am a disciple of the Tengu…. I will not allow it to end like this!"**

The Demon continued to wail and howl its cries of unholy anguish, but alas, it was no use. By sealing this plane of existence off from the rest of the world it had created its own one way ticket to a second lifetime of eternal demise.

Flare stood with his mighty boot clad foot poised directly above the head of the monster. He was waiting for the command of his Mistress before finishing the job he had so finely started.

Negumi was quick to glance down at the flailing abomination… It was soaked in black acid-like blood, its rotting form releasing a stench of pure horror. Her eyes became stern and hard, fixed on the monster who was screaming at her feet.

"You're a disciple of the Tengu, right?" She questioned with a disgusted expression donning her face.

Her hand's found their way to her hips.

"Well, when you return to the Veil of nightmares, you tell him this… If I can defeat one of you freaks, I can defeat the others.. I will find him, and all of this will come to an end…"

The monster froze solid like it had become an ice figurine. It went deadly silent for the longest time, and spine chilling chuckle escaped from its bloodied mouth.

"**You will die before you ever reach the Master. Where I have failed, the other's will-"**

Negumi scowled at the fiendish abomination with the most loathsome of expressions. She looked to Flare and nodded, "Go ahead. I'm tired of this THING ranting at me."

There was nothing more than a deep grunt from Negumi's protector. Right then and there, the boot came down upon the head of the Monster, crushing its septic cranium into a pool of black pulp and skull fragments. The moment this demon was destroyed, everything evaporated in a flash of white light.

"We finally did it…"

* * *

**Several Hours Later**

The sun was burning through the pale blue curtain that protected the room from the morning rays of light. Negumi awoke to find herself perched up against the wall of her brother's shed. She must have fallen asleep out there last night…

A shallow groan of discomfort escaped from her cracked, dry lips. Slowly with a great deal of effort the young woman hauled her aching body off the cold, hard ground. Her lets took a very long time to adjust to moving again. Her initial movements resembled something that was more like the limp of an old lady without her cane.

"I hate mornings…. I HATE THEM!"

Once a great deal of effort had been applied Miss Asano managed to haul herself into the back room of the shed where there was a mirror. Her hair was a total mess and her eyes where bloodshot. It really did look like she had been dragged through a bush backwards. Her sleepy brown eyes continued to fixate on her scruffy form until a thought shot through her mind like a jolt of electricity.

"LENNOX-SEMPAI!" Her eyes became wide.

The young lady moved so quickly when compared to her attempts of staggering around just a second ago! She sprang out of the shed, rushing barefoot through the grass of the back garden like a woman who was possessed. In a matter of a minute she went bursting through the back door of her small house.

Still lacking anything in the sock department, she slid across the hardwood floor rather ungracefully to arrive outside the living room. She pulled open the sliding door to see a familiar figure passed out on the dinner table. He was surrounded by beer cans; face drenched in drool, and was wearing a biker jacket. Fresh bruises where plastering his face, and he smelled like a brewery…

All Negumi could do was let out a quiet little sigh in pity of this sad human being. This sorry excuse for a man was her big brother, Kojiro. Things never changed in their house, ever. Big brother was always fainted in a corner somewhere or passed out in a bar. Their dad? He was never home. If he wasn't cooped up wasting his time in the seedier district of town with a woman, he would be out of town on one of his famous 'Drives.'

The young lady tore her eyes away from this sorry sight, took extra special care to step over her sleeping sibling, and made a quiet sneak in the direction of her room. She had to check on her Sempai. There was no way she could do that looking like this.

"….Please be alright."

* * *

**Mike's Apartment: 11am**

The British transfer student was sat bolt upright at the coffee table in the kitchen. His hands where clasped together, and his breathing was deep and stressful. He kept staring at the clock like it may hold the answers to his insane situation. However, it did not.

"That shit wasn't real… No way in Hell… Dreams are dreams…"

Mike remembered everything that had transpired in the dream last night. The monster that confronted him, the piece of paper he signed, his room melting apart, everything. It was bringing him to the verge of going quite crazy.

He stood up, "No school today for me… Dad isn't home for the next two weeks… Maybe I should go out?"

At a time like this all Lennox could bring himself to do was make a pathetic attempt at keeping his shit in check! Everything felt too real about his situation last night. Even though there was no wound from where that THING slashed him, he still felt invisible pain where the jagged claw impacted… That wasn't normal at all.

There was no two ways about it. He had to get outside before he went nuts. With that in mind Mike started to edge his way to the door to grab his shoes, but then…

***KnockKnockKnock***

* * *

In an Instant the blond haired Brit felt his heart rate increase dramatically. It was making him feel a little queasy in the stomach!

"Somebody at the door?" He asked himself.

It was no small task mustering the enthusiasm to move given everything Mike went through last night. Slowly he felt his sock clad feet edging across the floor. The breaths that escaped him were shaken and uneasy. Once he arrived at the door Lennox took an extra moment to breathe deeply before his hand touched the door handle.

The man's heart seemingly skipped a beat when he pulled it open. Time itself seemed to almost freeze. The person he saw when the door was open made him finally breathe a sigh of relief. It was Negumi, and she had a pretty strange look on her face.

Her hair looked scruffy and it came down her back rather untidily. She wore her usual out of school attire which consisted of a black T shirt, tight fitting jeans, and white sneakers with orange stripes. She never dressed feminine, ever.

She looked so happy to see him, an expression filled with so much relief, "Sempai! You're feeling alright, aren't you?"

Such a strong showing of emotion was pretty out of the ordinary for a girl like Miss Asano. It had Mike a little confused. Then again, he was also pretty damn happy to see her after the crazy events of last night.

"You're wondering if I'm alright, Asano? Well, yeah… Just had a bit of a rough night is all. I didn't sleep well." Mike replied quietly.

Negumi's face twisted in concern the moment he began to speak, "You had a bad dream, didn't you Sempai? A monster! It was in your room!"

Mike's heart literally stopped beating for the slightest millisecond. Fear washed over him like a wave crashing into the shoreline. His face became twisted with a look of serious worry. He even stepped back a little bit.

"How did you know? Negumi… I mean, Asano! C'mon! That really isn't funny…" The Brit stammered.

Negumi stepped forward, and the first thing Mike did out of fear was take another step back.

"Lennox-Sempai… That's because it wasn't a dream… I guess what I mean to say is… I think I need to talk to you about all this. May I come in?"

All Lennox could do at this point was force out a frightened nod. He gestured for Negumi to enter, then slammed the door shut behind her so fast that it was unreal. After putting back all the locks he sat down at the coffee table, and waited…

Eventually, Negumi began…

"Sempai… If I told you that there is another place we go when we sleep, would you think I was crazy?"

After last night Mike honestly didn't know what to believe anymore, "I erm… In the past month I've had some seriously messed up dreams… Too real to call my mind playing tricks on me. They almost seemed-"

Negumi's hands came down upon the coffee table, her nails digging into the wood slightly, "They almost seemed real for you?"

Lennox ended up freezing for a second, before he managed to force another stiff nod, "Well…yeah…"

The slender young lady edged a few inches closer across the coffee table. Her eyes became narrowed and her expression started to turn somewhat serious.

"Did you go to a room in your dream? Was there a strange old man there? Did you-"

Mike's eyes go wide with horror and he shudders, "Sign a piece of paper?"

Miss Asano closed her eyes and gave a fearful nod to her British Sempai, "Yes. Well then, Lennox-Sempai.. Me and You are both the same now. Our spirits are linked to the dreamscape… We both have a persona."

The eyes of the British student became fixed on the coffee table. He was too afraid to look up at his Junior and friend. All of this was too crazy to fully register at once.

"Persona," Mike started.

"I heard that name mentioned in my dream last night… When that monster attacked me a woman appeared. She said she was my Persona… Then YOU arrived Asano… I was slashed, bleeding… You saved me."

Negumi reached forward to place a cautious hand on the shoulder of her Sempai. He didn't look up at all. He didn't even flinch in fact.

"I sensed your presence. You were trapped in a nightmare by a Demon, Sempai. He was going to use you to feed… No way was I gonna let that bastard hurt you…"

Mike has a slight smile grace his lips for a moment, "First time I've heard you swear in a while. You must be pretty serious, Asano."

She growled lightly in response, punching Mike softly on the arm, "I was helping you! That thing would have eaten you alive if it wasn't for me."

The Brit's eyes found their way up for a moment, "So you're saying when we sleep Monsters can get into our nightmares. Then they attack us?"

Negumi sighed softly for a second and scratched into the coffee table softly to ease her nerves, "All this power we have… It comes from a place named the dreamscape. Sempai… If you let me stay over tonight, I can show you the way there while you dream."

Mike's eyes go WIDE as hell, "You want to stay HERE? Negumi, are you SERIOUS?!"

The Japanese Martial Artist barked angrily and stood from the coffee table. From there she socked Mike square in the face and glared! She looked furious! Or it could have been embarrassment?

"SEMPAI! It's nothing like that, you dirty- I'm not indecent or anything of the sort! Sheesh! I just want to help you!"

Lennox was planted but first on the floor right now, rubbing his sore left cheek. When he looked up he just rolled his eyes. Eventually a smile crept onto his face, "I should be used to you talking with your fists…. Fine, Asano…"

The Brit hauled himself off the wooden floor and nodded, "You can have my room. I'll sleep on the couch in the living room. Seriously though, we shouldn't tell anybody in school about this…"

Negumi growled once more, "AGREED! If you do tell anybody Sempai, I might just have to kill you!"

In a flippant moment Mike shrugged his shoulders and headed for the kitchen, "Well, if these monsters are real I suppose none of the trivial everyday shit matters much anymore, does it?"

There was a soft little giggle from Negumi there, "Are you SCARED?"

Mike stopped near the kitchen unit, his back turned to his Junior while he reached for the coffee, "Honestly? If I have to face another repeat of that shit… I'm pretty fucking worried."

At that moment Asano was quick to drop in a few words to try and calm the nerves of her Sempai, "You shouldn't worry too much. You're safe if we're traveling together…"

Lennox really doesn't believe that at all. The sarcastic chuckle that escaped his lips straight after was proof enough of that, "What makes you so sure? I mean, you've clearly done this before…"

From then on there was an all too obvious silence been kept up by Negumi. She took her hoodie off while Mike was making the coffee and tied it around her waist firmly, then continued to watch the back of her Sempai.

"I'll protect you, Lennox-Sempai… You don't need to worry." The young lady spoke at almost a whisper.

Right at that second as well, Mike turned, "What did you say there? Sorry! Was just putting a sugar in my coffee."

There was silence again, and Negumi Asano didn't speak a word from then on, "It's nothing… Don't worry about it. Just be ready for tonight… You will need all the energy you can get."

Mike waltzed over and placed Negumi's mug of coffee down on the table, promptly seating himself with his own drink next. "So this starts tonight?"

"That's right. As soon as we begin to dream, Sempai." Negumi clarifies.

Mike rolls his eyes, "Wonderful. So this Dreamscape place… What's it like?"

After taking a sip of her piping hot coffee Negumi sprawled on her elbows across the coffee table and gave a little yawn, "Well, it's the doorway to the world of people's dreams. We should be careful though, because if we cross a shadow creature or a demon… It becomes hell on earth, like you saw last night…"

Lennox let out a sarcastic laugh from the pit of his stomach. It was laced with fear though, and Negumi knew that. She knew her Sempai better than anybody in that school, after all.

By the end of this evening both of them would be traveling to the Dreamscape together. Their odds of survival totally depended upon their ability to work together…

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Enter the Dreamscape

**Chapter 3: Enter the Dreamscape**

**Mike's Apartment: Midnight**

It was all too quiet for Mike Lennox at the moment. He sat there in the lounge, clad in his favourite black shorts and a white vest. His eyes remained fixed on the ceiling. They had been there for quite some time, and his brain was in overdrive with everything going on!

What was all this crazy stuff Negumi was even talking about earlier? This Dreamscape was supposed to be some place that people went when they slept! In all honesty, such a concept just didn't register in the young British man's brain without sounding insane.

Mike was really fidgety and uneasy right now, "This crap sounds too surreal to me…"

The familiar sound of his bedroom door sliding open was enough to break his trance of deep thought. He didn't move his head at all. Instead, he just listened to the quiet sound of bare feet pattering across the hardwood floor of his living room.

When those feet halted their travels Mike's ears fixated upon the sound of soft feminine breathing. He nudged his head to the left slightly, slowly moving his lower body in tow so he could face the person stood before him properly.

Of course, it was Negumi. She was wearing a set of loose fitting silk pajama's and her hair was set in a long ponytail, which was held in place by a crimson red hair bobble. She looked a little agitated over something.

"You aren't asleep yet, Sempai?!" She asked in a slightly raised tone of voice.

Mike sat himself upright on the couch and crossed his legs stiffly. After rubbing his eyes, he gestured for Negumi to sit down beside him. She looked for a moment, glanced at her senior with her usual heated gaze, then sat down in her own little spot on the couch.

The British man connected his eyes to Negumi's, "I'm trying my best to relax. I don't naturally sleep well. That's all."

Miss Asano's expression became a little foggy with minor confusion when he spoke. That wasn't something she expected to hear from Mike of all people. Sighing softly, she placed her hands in her lap and shook her head for a second.

"Just relax! Close your eyes and lay your head back." She instructed rather sternly.

Mike's eyes darted across to the wall at the far side of the living room. There they stayed for a little while. Their glance remained on the white paintwork of the wall, until slowly they closed.

There was something slightly relaxing about having someone else in the room when he was trying to sleep. It helped him cool his overactive mind and get into a slightly more chilled out state.

Seeing that her Sempai had finally started to calm himself a little bit more, Negumi also made herself comfier in her own little corner of the couch. She pulled one of Mike's discarded pillows close, then rested it behind her head.

"Sempai?" Negumi whispered almost silently.

Mike didn't want to unravel again now that he was finally in a calm enough state of mind to sleep. He didn't move, but his breathing remained quiet and peaceful.

"Hmmm?" He quietly groaned in an inquisitive manner.

Negumi found her own eyes closing now that she was comfy in her little corner.

"Once we enter the Dreamscape, please don't leave my side."

At this point in time Mikey felt his body becoming heavy. He knew the essence of sleep was rather quickly descending upon him. Before he finally let go and fell asleep, he exhaled softly and clasped his hands together.

"Gotcha, Asano." The Brit murmured.

Mr Lennox was still slightly sceptical over this entire thing. Was it real, or just some excuse for Negumi to stay over because her cousin Hirano was working this weekend? He wasn't sure which it was, but that insane nightmare must have meant something.

Slowly the moments crept by as the urge to sleep became stronger. In a few short minutes the two teens found themselves fast asleep and breathing softly.

Mike was slouched back against the arm of his couch in a rather hunched position. Negumi on the other hand was slightly more graceful in her sleep. Her legs where stretched out with her petite feet resting against her Sempai's knees. She was holding the pillow she had taken tightly, squeezing it like a teddy bear.

To the untrained eye it simply looked like these two were asleep. However, their spiritual forms had migrated to another place entirely. A place that resided on neither heaven nor earth…

* * *

**An Unknown Place**

Negumi groaned in slight unease. Something cold and solid was pressed against the left side of her body. She wriggled and squirmed for a moment. Her sense of consciousness was slowly coming back. At that moment a distorted voice began to echo in her mind.

"Asano! Hey, Asano! C'MON!" The voice sounded very familiar to her indeed.

The language spoken was Japanese, but the accent it was delivered in was an unusual one. Only one person spoke like that, and it was her British Sempai.

Painstakingly, the girl opened her eyes with another tired groan. The very first thing she saw through distorted vision was a pair of black shoes. Slowly her eyes panned upward like a camera shooting a movie scene. Moving up those eyes of hers caught a glimpse of a slightly muscular pair of let's wearing denim jeans, then a chest wearing a white T shirt. Lastly, when her line of sight fixed on the face, she felt herself become calm and a little less grouchy over being roused from her resting place.

The face was of a familiar European man, slightly older than her. He had a faint blond nine-o clock shadow from shaving, emerald green eyes and a very small scar at the corner of his chin which was leaning toward the right side. This was a face she knew well.

It was Lennox trying to talk to her. Taking a few moments to get her Barings, she stretched out her legs, and then groggily climbed to her feet. At first the young lady was a tiny bit shaky, but it quickly subsided after she stretched a little more.

"Asano… Answer me one thing." Mike said rather seriously.

He turned his eyes out, casting his gaze outward to an unfamiliar crimson horizon, "Where in the actual hell are we?"

The scenery as far as the eye could see was a truly breath taking to behold. Spanning out as far as the eye could see was a warm crimson sunset in a seemingly endless sky of soft blue clouds. The air had a soothing coolness to it which bore no malice to the two teens. Beneath their feet was a soft blanket of fluffy white clouds. It also seemed to span eternally far, as if it was the ground itself in this strange realm.

Lennox focused his eyes on objects which resembled little black dots far off in the distance. He couldn't make out what they exactly were from this far away, but there was a seemingly endless number of them scattered around across the scape of clouds.

Faint whispers resonated through the warm scene that stretched out before the two. They almost seemed like the voices of people. Speaking, whispering, laughing and crying. This entire landscape seemed to be alive with its own free will.

Negumi walked to Mike's side. She stretched her hand out to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The expression of sheer awe that adorned his expression was actually a little amusing to watch for Miss Asano.

"This Sempai, is the entrance to the Dreamscape. This is where the souls of people reside when they sleep. Their dreams and nightmares both reside somewhere deep inside here."

The Japanese Martial Artist had a soft smile on her face. She dropped her hand from her Sempai's shoulder, and clasped his hand tightly. With no warning whatsoever, Lennox found himself been hauled along beside Negumi rather abruptly.

It goes without saying that the eyes of the Brit remained fixed on the scene around him, still in apparent awe of the actual situation. He had to take a few moments to truly comprehend the situation before his brain could register it all.

"No way…" His voice was filled with wonder, and confusion.

"This place is really… REAL!" Mike seemed astounded.

* * *

Negumi stopped in her tracks, the hand of Mikey been released from her iron grip in the process. She turned on her heels, hands rested on her hips. The look she gave her Sempai was actually a little intimidating.

"Well OF COURSE! I wasn't kidding ya know?" She barked.

Mike brought his hands up defensively, backing up a little bit to maintain a bit of distance between himself and his slightly grouchy Junior, "Hey! Hey… I believe you now… Okay?! This is just, a lot to take in."

Negumi rolled her eyes rather obstinately and a little sigh of annoyance escaped from her lips. She turned her back, her glance been fixed on the massive sunset in the distance. Even though Mike couldn't see it, her expression had become a little softer once she looked away.

"It was for me too…" Asano spoke in a soft tone of voice.

She seemed a little sad for a second, but quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts. From there she spun around, hands held behind her back, with a gentle smile on her face, "C'mon Sempai! Follow me!"

Mike's Junior took off on a run in the direction of a distant black dot that rested far away in the clouds. Lennox followed her as best he could to keep up the pace with this somewhat athletic girl! As the two neared the object it became less like a distant speck. It was starting to take shape in fact. It looked rectangular…wooden too.

When Negumi finally came to a stop in front of the object there was no doubt as to what it was. Once Lennox closed the gap between the two he took a moment to take a breather. With a deep breath he inhaled, then out again. Once his lungs felt the welcome gift of air flooding inside them, a light gasp escaped. His head came upward in a little jolt of endorphins. The same could be said for the British man's line of sight too.

He found his eye line meeting with the wooden rectangle waiting before Negumi and himself. A little chuckle of irony escaped from his lips, arms folded.

"That's a door- In fact… There are a lot of doors around here. Care to explain this one to me, Asano?"

Negumi's expression became a little more serious when Mike asked that question. She placed her hand on the handle of the door, the coldness of the brass making her slender left hand feel a tiny bit numb. A light shudder coursed through her body for a moment while the young lady adjusted to the temperature.

"These doors are the gateways into the dreamscape… That's how we go inside Sempai. We head through one of these doors, and at the end of the path lies the dream of somebody trapped inside. However…."

Negumi stopped there on quite an important note, and it got Mike's attention. His brow became raised in a rather concerned manner. Lennox had a feeling this was something he needed to hear.

"What is it, Asano?" His tone was riddled with a hint of unease.

Negumi found herself slowly releasing the handle of the door. She backed away rather cautiously with an expression that spoke of fear. Once she had turned around again her powerful brown eyes found their way to the floor.

"The dreamscape isn't safe for the people who dream anymore… Demons infest its pathways. Sometimes they even infiltrate the dreams of the people inside, turning them into nightmares…"

Lennox let out a gasp of realization, his breathing soon going from calm to uneasy. The colour in his face was starting to drain the tiniest bit as well. Suddenly the events of that crazy dream last night made sense to him.

"Is that what," He started hesitantly.

Slowly he managed to find the rest of the words he needed, "That's what happened to me last night, isn't it?"

Negumi simply nodded rather waywardly. Clearly she was still seriously traumatized over the events of the night before.

"I was… in the Dreamscape at the time. I know this won't make any sense at all, but I could FEEL your presence, Sempai. I knew you were in danger. If I hadn't come with Flare then…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

Mike felt quite uneasy over the extent of the entire situation. He looked down at the clouds beneath his feet, a ragged breath slowly edged out of his mouth. Once he was finished trying to calm himself, he looked back up to Negumi rather fearfully.

"It seemed so real… Like that thing was seriously gonna kill me. Even through it was a dream, I felt like I was going to die."

Negumi closed her eyes to hide the sadness that filled her gaze, "That is because… it was real, for your soul anyway. When we dream at night our souls come here, and when a demon traps you, your soul is placed in REAL mortal danger… Let me explain."

In an attempt to explain the gravity of this situation Negumi turned around and pointed at the black door before them, "For a long time now demons have found their way into the Dreamscape. They feed on human souls to survive, and they grow in strength by either eating the spirits of dreamers… or turning pure dreams into nightmares."

Mike's face has turned hard, warped with both anger and disgust at this concept, "How can you seriously know all this, Asano? I mean, seriously?!"

The hand pointing at the door dropped to Negumi's side rather cautiously. Ever so slowly it slinked its way up to her chest. There it came to rest on the spot where her heart was beating.

"For about a year now…. I've been able to enter the Dreamscape like this… You see, normally people trapped by demons can't defend themselves. They usually die in here, but I have a way of protecting myself. It's called a 'Persona'."

Lennox couldn't possibly say a word to respond. He really didn't understand a word of what was been said to him. He just stared at Negumi, his expression blank with confusion.

"Fine…" She growls frustratedly.

She raised her hand up rather angrily, and fire began to swirl around it. Mike staggered back in sheer shock. His eyes where fixed upon his junior's burning hand in horror.

That swirling swath of flame consumed Negumi's entire arm in an instant. It was like a violent flash fire. It didn't appear to be causing her any pain though. In fact, she seemed pretty calm.

"I guess if I can show anyone this, it's you Sempai. Well, here it goes…"

Negumi stood well back and brought her arm down to her side. She began to breathe like she was practicing a martial arts routine. Once she was done her hands came clasped together, her eyes closed gently.

"Per-So-Na" Came out as a faint whisper from Negumi's lips.

All of a sudden the clouds of the dreamscape began to feel viciously hot. Fire began to swirl around Negumi's body like a wildfire consuming a deep forest. Those flames began to dance around Asano's form. They were building stronger and stronger, hotter and hotter, until…

***KABOOOOM!***

* * *

They erupted forth from her body in a truly world shattering explosion. Mike's vision was blocked out in a flash of mighty powerful light, and when he regained his composure he saw something truly massive.

Stood at Negumi's side was a massive muscular male figure in a tattered Karate robe. His skin was scarred from the previous battles he had fought. Swirling in his hand was a ball of red hot flame. He most have been at least eight foot tall, with enough muscle to ram a tank into the ground! His aura was filled with sheer power and burning ambition!

"This, Lennox-Sempai, is my Persona. His name is Flare. He's a manifestation of my personality made real in here. When I'm in the Dreamscape I can summon him to protect me." There was a slightly shy look consuming Negumi's expression.

Mike's jaw was agape. In fact it was so far down it was practically hitting the floor, "What the FU-"

Before Lennox could finish the obscenity in his sentence Negumi was quick to speak again, "This is the reason I brought you here Sempai. I'm not the only one capable of doing this. Y-You can too. Remember your dream?"

A lump promptly appeared in Mike's throat. It slowed his breathing, made him feel like the air was been blocked from his lungs once more. This time he was able to conquer it before it consumed him though. He stood firm while the memory of his dream was running rampant within his mind. For a little while has lost to reality.

Once he came back to reality, there was a stern nod on his part, "The girl in the black dress… You're saying-"

What was originally a cautious look on Negumi's fact turned into a gentle smile of assurance, "She is your Persona… Sempai, if we are going to enter the doors of the Dreamscape… you need to summon her."

The paleness in Lennox' cheeks reached new levels, "But, how?"

Mike's younger friend wasn't worried about any of this at all. She chuckled softly, her fist becoming clenched tightly. Flare still remained at her side, "Think back to the dream... You already know how to do it."

Of course, this was something Mike was very nervous to truly contemplate. He breathed deeply to steady the rising feeling of nervousness buried in his gut. His eyes closed to hide their hesitant expression, and then he nodded.

"I can do this… Alright." He reassured himself.

The aura resonating from the body of the British man changed completely. It went from being slightly hesitant to outright sombre in a mere second flat. A cold gust of air blasted through the clouds of the Dreamscape for a moment. The sheer force of the power resembled that of a force five Twister. From that cold air started to ooze a ghostly aura. It bled through the cracks of the clouds at Mike's feet. As the height of this power manifested, Mike exhaled deeply…

"Come on… PERSONA!"

The ghostly aura at the feet of Mike slithered forth with mysterious intent. It stood directly in front of Mr Lennox and the wisps of netherworld energy took solid human form. They bunched together in united coalescence! The sound of a beating heart came forth in mighty prevalence. Just when Negumi believed this sight couldn't get any more bizarre, it most certainly did! The ghostly aura imploded in on itself, then EXLODED in an ear shattering…

***BOOOM!***

Once the eerie smoke subsided, a familiar woman in archaic gothic attire was stood at the side of Mike. The look on her face was filled with confidence in her own ability. Her rouge red lips curved into a smile, and then she shuffled the deck of playing cards that were clasped in her slender, pale hands. She twirled her sexy feminine form, soon fixing her solid dark eyes upon Negumi's Persona, Flare.

Negumi looked at the form of Mike's persona with curiosity. She whistled softly in admiration of his personality's manifestation. In honesty she was surprised the Persona of a man she viewed as so masculine and determined actually came forth as a woman. It made her really consider what rested within Mike's heart.

Still, in the end her lips curved into a smile, "I knew you would be able to do it, Sempai… That leaves one last thing for us to do…"

Mike watched rather nervously as Negumi turned her back again. She was going back toward the door she had previously backed away from for some reason. Her hand fell upon the handle, and with a light push down, she opened the door. It swung open in a gust benevolent cold air that chilled Mike down to the core!

It didn't look like Negumi was going inside the door though. Instead, she turned and glanced at her Sempai was a very intense gaze! It was the look she gave somebody before she engaged them in Combat!

Miss Asano clenched her fists together tightly! A hearty laugh escaped from her slender form to fire a warming shot at Mikey! With a rather devious expression she snapped her fingers! The fire around her body subsided in a gust of cold air! Like her own mind was willing it, the tattered, charred school uniform she had somehow come to adorn in the dreamscape evaporated as well! It was replaced with a flame red Kimono that fitted her body perfectly!

She opened her palms loosely, her feet slowly moving toward Mike, "Before we go in there Sempai, I'm going to test your skills..."

Mike's eyes suddenly became WIDE, "Wh-WHAT?!"

Negumi smiled again. It was a smile that had devious intent hidden beneath, "Picture your ideal weapon in your mind. In this world, you can make it reality. Be careful what you choose though, because the weapon you brandish in this place is a permanent decision."

Lennox still found himself backing up further and further! He was trying to get away from Negumi! All the while she had taken off on a sprint! She was rushing toward her Sempai with an expression that bore the intent of kicking his ass!

Mike slid back on his heels to get some distance! There he stood for a second while he contemplated in his mind… He had to think of something he could use to defend himself… That was when he thought back to his time in Japan… His specialist skills in academic terms where languages, but on the physical side…

When he arrived at the Academy he joined the Martial Arts club as well as the Cultural club! That was how he met Negumi in the first place! So really, his choice was an obvious one. There was no way in hell he could match up to this girl in Hand to Hand Combat, but he was quite well versed in another type of fighting

He focused his mind for a moment to gather together his strength of will. His aura pulsed again, and his Persona Tamiko moved back to stand at his side! The body of the young man was consumed in a wave of bright light for a second. Once the flash subsided his clothes had changed!

He was wearing a Black Vest with Midnight blue camouflage pants! A pair of loose fitting black sneakers protected his feet, and around his neck was a silver pendant in the shape of a Christian cross! Was this his ideal form?!

The Brit held out his hand with a sly smile! A second ray of slight flashed in a blinding explosion! When it cleared, Lennox was wielding a solid mahogany wood staff in his left hand. He briefly spun it from the wrist to show off, and then gripped it tightly in both hands.

He didn't learn much Close Combat in the Martial Arts club. However, he did develop quite the passion for Staff fighting! He'd been doing it for a couple of years now!

"If you really want to do this Asano, then COME ON!"

Negumi smiled coolly! Her persona came bounding in toward Tamiko with a mighty roar! Naturally, Miss Asano was aiming straight for Mike!

"Should have known you would choose a Staff, Sempai! Okay then… HERE WE GO!"

Negumi came in close, and swung her left foot out to sweep at her Sempai! The two had found their way into the Dreamscape. However, to be sure that her Sempai was ready for the trails that lay ahead, she would have to test him first…

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. The Horror Within

**Chapter 4: The Horror Within**

The air within the dreamscape was ablaze with the heated tension of battle. Within this land of eternal dreams the two teens where squaring off against one another to test their skills. For something that was supposed to be a simple sparring match it did look pretty damn fiery! It was like these two where seriously trying to pick a fight!

Negumi went sweeping inward to crash into the side of her Sempai's guard with a mighty THUD! The British man held his staff high to parry her, abruptly knocking her back with a light shove!

The heat of a battle made the young Japanese lady feel truly alive! She really wasn't like a lot of the other girls in her school! The rush of competition along with the burning sense of adrenaline was more than enough to make her feel like she was superhuman!

This strategy Negumi adopted clearly wasn't working to catch her English friend off guard! It was obviously time to try another approach in the hopes of getting somewhere. In order to be sure Mike was able to survive inside the Dreamscape there was no choice but to go full force!

Miss Asano threw herself backward into a mass of clouds! There was a light bead of sweat dripping from her brow because of the sheer amount of energy she was putting into this.

The expression on her lips twisted into a faint smile of confidence, "I'm going to getcha, Lennox-Sempai!"

The young lady was using the fluffy clouds all over the landscape as cover to mask her approach. She came sprinting out of nowhere with agile feet at her disposal. As she closed in on Lennox he stood father firm, the staff in his hand been twirled rather skilfully from his right wrist again!

Negumi closed the gap as fast as she could, abruptly leaping up a little to gain momentum! In a single agile movement she sent her leg twisting outward in a twisting Tae Kwon Do kick! The side of that powerful foot was aimed for the Mike's ribcage!

At that split second in time Mike thought back to his prior training in the martial arts club! If anything his friend Hirano-Sensei taught him, it was to always keep his mind fluent and agile in a combat situation! Been caught off guard was the enemy in a situation of self-defence.

Still, this girl was coming in fast and there really wasn't a great deal of time to react! Lennox gripped the staff tightly using both hands and in a single shallow grunt, held himself firm in a protective position. He was using the staff to protect his mid-section!

Yet, when Negumi's foot impacted the sheer force of her strike still sent him budging back a couple of inches! A second grunt of exertion escaped from his lips. There he stood, now pushed a few inches backward. He didn't look pissed off though, oh no!

"Now I know why you're the Captain of the Martial Arts club Asano! Still… I'm not gonna have a repeat of what happened the LAST TIME we sparred!" The British man dropped his guarded stance.

From there he took off in a burst of energy! He was advancing forward, staff still held tightly; he swung it outward using the momentum from his left hand. The staff went lunging forward, aimed for the centre of Negumi's solar plexus!

She was waiting for his move though! Her chuckle of confidence was proof enough of that. At the final moment before the tip of the wooden staff met its mark, she smirked slyly!

Her stance went from a firm defence to an agile countermeasure! She sent her left leg jutting square in front in a blunt forward kick, impacting with the staff.

"Checkmate, Sempai! You have to try harder to beat me!" Negumi smiled.

Lennox watched in surprise as the Staff was sent flying out of his hands, and high up into the air! It spun like a baton as it travelled away from the man who was originally holding it. When it finally came crashing back down to the cloudy ground of the Dreamscape, it shattered like glass!

It was Negumi who gave a rather confident victory sign! Once again she had proven her worth as a fighter! The look on her face was most certainly one of extreme confidence. The way Mike looked over his loss though was the slightest bit amusing to her…

The Brit appeared to be stunned over what just transpired. He really did believe he'd sharpened up his skills enough to match his junior now! It was a fact that he was one of the more adept fighters in the martial arts club. In terms of staff work he was pretty advanced, but it didn't look like that was enough to best the young lady stood before him.

"Well now… Looks like you beat me, again." Mikey spoke quietly with a modest smile.

After another little chuckle of victory freed itself from Negumi's lips, the young lady snapped her fingers. In a gust of fiery energy her clothes changed back from the Kimono to her regular school uniform. She was pretty refined in terms of her dress sense in school. The skirt she wore was very much past her knees, and she even wore those awful blue blazers that no one else liked.

As soon as her clothing changed, Flare also evaporated in a burst of crimson red energy! Negumi was obviously alright without him at the moment.

"Two words, Sempai. I WIN!" Negumi smirked cheerfully.

Once Mike saw her sudden change in attire something puzzled him! He wasn't going to ask about it just yet though! First things first he focused his energy into a single point, and then sighed softly.

"I'll get you back one day… Trust me." Lennox replied at a whisper.

Tamiko, who he summoned earlier, slowly faded away in her trademark ghostly aura. Plus his clothes changed back to the more casual attire he preferred to wear. There he stood, clad in a pair of dark blue denim jeans and a white t shirt. This getup of his was accompanied by a pair of shiny black shoes.

The young man slowly walked back to stand at Negumi's side! That was when the urge to ask the question he was so curious about got the better of him!

Saying what he was going to say came with risks, yet he was willing to brave the storm, "Asano… You really need to tell me before it starts bugging me. What's the deal with the Kimono a moment ago?"

Such a question was enough to render Negumi strangely quiet as her mind raced in turbo. She was clearly been put on the spot and she needed an answer quickly. She turned her back on Mike while she pondered what in the hell to say. The words weren't coming easily because Asano was seriously out of her depth.

"I just felt like a change… I've never worn one before so… Did you think it looked nice?!" When the young Japanese lady turned around to face Mike her eyes had a very serious flare to them.

Mike knew that hard yet expecting look in the eyes of Negumi very well. He quietly sighed to himself… The way she looked right now basically spoke volumes on how this situation could play out! It was along the lines of…

**'WARNING! YOU'RE GOING TO GET PUNCHED IF YOU SAY THE WRONG THING!'**

The words inside the brain of the British teen had to be constructed very carefully to avoid potential death. He took a deep breath, then began, "It was… different. The red works though."

Before he even got a response Lennox felt something impact with the side of his face. Everything in his little world went spinning round and round like someone picked him up and shook him! His vision distorted for a second while his brain recovered from the jolt of pain.

Once his eyesight returned to normal, he saw Negumi holding a clenched fist. Once again, he had been punched! This was pretty normal territory for the young man. Hell, it was a regular part of the friendship these two shared. Mikey would start thinking something was seriously wrong with Negumi if she DIDN'T punch him.

"You're a jerk you know that?! I'm totally sticking to wearing jeans from now on…" His young lady friend said in a raised voice!

Negumi turned away, swung open the closest door leading inside the Dreamscape, then silently gestured with vicious intent that her male counterpart follow!

Of course, Mikey sensed that saying No was clearly out of the question. With another soft sigh he followed suit and entered the door behind her. Once he closed it, the path in front was a rather crazy one!

"Don't separate from me here, Sempai." Negumi spoke seriously at this point. Her apparent frustration from earlier had now burned away into the ether.

Even though this place seemed like a wonderful cloudy dream world on the outside, it seemed VERY different when you actually entered the inside… The aura of this entire place was lousy with a disgusting air of maliciousness, death, and decay.

* * *

The two seemed to have entered into a massive, damp, dark dungeon! The walls where moist with sticky residue that bled out of the decayed cracks! This gunge was tainted a disgusting reddish pink colour. Some of it almost looked solid, chunky, and fleshy even.

All around the duo were the sound of faints screams that resonated far off in the distance. Above their heads was a dirty, red stained ceiling. Encrusted into the rotted foundation of this roof where the skeletal remains of dreamers… They were clearly victims of the demons, people who had their souls devoured. These skeletal husks that adorned looks of pure anguish were all that was left of them. A few of them still looked slightly more recent than the others. They still had eyes jammed in the sockets, widened in horror, or muscle tissue still stuck to their bones.

Blood seemed to be leaking all around their feet… Not to mention that aura was truly stomach churning in here. It was like the essence of death itself had taken form all around them. Negumi was beginning to move forward VERY carefully. She did not dare let a single foot step out of place.

Mike stayed right behind her every step of the way! From the ether of this demonic pathway he summoned back his staff. Unwilling to let it go, he clutched it tightly, apparently prepared to kill anything that came near him.

They kept walking until the thin corridor they started in widened out into a large open cavern. Sticking up from the decayed, gut wrenchingly squishy ground where the hands of those who had relinquished their lives. It was a safe bet these poor souls had been hauled into nightmares, rendered defenceless, then finally devoured…

Negumi turned slowly, quietly leaning in so she could whisper to her Sempai, "This is one of the pathways that goes deeper inside the Dreamscape. It has become a den for demons… From here they can create doorways into the dreams of innocent people…"

The words of the woman beside him made Mike grip the staff in his hands even tighter than before. He remained utterly silent while he listened to the truth of this horrific place.

"I call this place The Graveyard… It's as far as I've ever been by myself… If you look around you can see them… The husks of devoured souls… This is the place where the Demons dump what's left of their victims… At the far side of this massive cavern, there's a stairway that leads further down…"

While the aura of ill intent grew stronger Negumi became a little more hurried in her speaking… She pointed at the corpse filled; decaying walls all around them, and then looked back to her Sempai.

"If we can make it to the end of the cavern we can go deeper into the lair of these monsters… I want to know what's lurking inside here… Sempai, I brought you here because I know I can trust you, to help me…" She finishes the final part of that sentence rather cautiously.

All the while this Brit was still enshrouded in a sense of extreme unease. He looked around this this landscape of horror with shaky breathing, then back to Negumi. He kept his eyes jammed shut for the longest moment, eventually giving a stiff nod of approval.

"Alright… I nearly died cuz of this place… If we can work out why the hell it's become like this… then I'm game… Let's go, Asano." Mike spoke with a modest undertone in his shaky voice.

If there was anyone she believed in that would be able to help her, Negumi had faith it would be this man. He didn't have many friends within school since he transferred here to study, that was true. However, he had been friends with this young Japanese lady from the start. She felt slight warmth in her heart because of his willingness to help…

"Thank you, Sempai." Negumi spoke at a whisper as she slowly began to walk further inside the blood encrusted cavern.

* * *

**Mike's Apartment: 11am**

Little did they both know that back in the human world of the awake, time was passing by. Neither one of these two had been aware, but their extreme exertion of energy meant they had already been sleeping for over a day.

To the untrained eye their peaceful forms resembled two people sprawled on a couch together. While their souls resided in the dream world though, their bodies remained detached and dormant in the plane of existence for the living. The truth was, in this state their bodies where comatose in an eternal sleep state. Until their souls returned safely from the dream world, they would remain like this indefinitely.

Mike's father still wasn't due home for quite some time, so he would be none the wiser to what dire peril his son was engaged in right about now. There was a grave secret that Negumi neglected to tell her Sempai though…

* * *

**Within the Pathways of the Dreamscape**

Negumi froze to the spot when she heard a distorted growl hunger. It was predatory in nature, the sound of a hunter stalking its prey… She held up her hand to signal Mike to stop before he overtook her. He froze on command to cautiously heed her warning…

"Asano… What was that sound?" Mike asked nervously.

That same predatory growl of ravenous hunger echoed from wall to wall once again! It was all around the two of them! It seemed to come from every single side, so there was no real way to pinpoint it as it closed in!

Sweat dripped from the forehead of the Japanese lady beside Lennox as she prepared for the worst. She inhaled deeply, and then exhaled raggedly, like the air was been chocked out. The aura surrounding her body became burning hot! It was so hot that when Mike tried to touch her shoulder it actually charred his hand slightly!

"PERSONA!" Screamed Negumi at the top of her lungs in desperation

A cyclone of flames erupted from the fleshy ground and Flare was summoned to her side. Right then and there she looked Lennox straight in the eyes, and pulled him close to her, "There's a demon nearby. It senses us."

When Lennox heard those words his instincts to survive seemed to kick in on automatic, "I've got your back, Asano…"

The ground around the two humans began to erupt violently! It was shaking so fiercely that it resembled a colossal earthquake in nature! Both of them braced to in an attempt to keep themselves from falling ass first onto the decomposing, squidgy floor. The entire Graveyard was shaken from corner to corner in a single instant when a wall was totally demolished…

Stood there, bathed in fresh blood, its beady eyes fixed on the two, was the demon Negumi could hear a moment ago. It resembled a ginormous bull frog! It was Jet black with slimy porous skin, cancerous growths jutted from the sides of its back too. The colour of the eyes this horrendous monster brandishes were the purest blood red… It let out a colossal roar from the depths of its throat with enough volume to shatter glass. This sound was twisted and distorted, pure evil in nature. It hungered for souls to slake the emptiness within its bitter core.

Once its twisted features fell upon the two teens Negumi looked to Mike. She brought herself to nod seriously, her Persona Flare, towering at her right side.

"Here we go…" With an expression of both fear and slight excitement, the young lady stood ready for battle.

A sudden shift of the aura inside the cavern dropped the temperature sharply. It became cold and malicious. That maliciousness twisted and warped around Mike. In the height of its power, Tamiko oozed into existence to take up her place beside her British Master.

She took a card from the deck she held in her hands with a sinister chuckle. Those ruby lips of hers gave the coldest smile, "Don't let me down..." Whispered Mike to his lady Persona.

With one final mighty roar, the demon charged at Negumi and Mike. The hunger in its eyes spoke of the most twisted desire to suck their souls dry…

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. Lonely Girl in the Big City

**Chapter 5: Lonely Girl in the Big City**

_Where do I start here? Hmmm, well, I guess this is Tsukiyo! I'm here again to say my piece for the week._

_I really like this new diary of mine. It helps me piece everything together with my new life in school. Tetsuo academy isn't too bad, though some of the girls really aren't all that nice to newbies like me. It totally beats my old high school in America. I'm happy to be back in Japan for the most part. I haven't been here since I was thirteen now… Wow… I'm eighteen next year… Scary…_

_When I think about it, I see this place more like my real home. There's a much more peaceful aura in Japan compared to the States. Chicago was always filled with hustle and bustle. Anyway… I've been back home in Harumi City for about a week or so now. Dad is staying overseas to work, so it's just me and mum here. Well... since she's always out working for the local news it gets pretty lonely here._

_Then again, mom and dad always seem too busy to see eye to eye with me. I know it must sound a little sad writing this in a book, but I think I'm used to it this way by now. I just wish they could spare some time for me and my little brother Taiyo._

_I can't help but feel so frightened for him at the moment… As soon as we arrived back home the doctor said he came down with that 'Sleep Sickness' thing. Everyone on the news talks about it like some epidemic. Apparently your body starts off by going into a very deep sleep, then your vital signs drop. Some people even die… Anyhow, It is about time I stop being so morbid. I'll leave this topic where it is._

_When I think about it I shouldn't be writing this diary when I'm sat here during school time, but my last lesson is ending now. I should put this book away and head home so I don't miss the train. Sayonara for now._

* * *

**Tetsuo Academy (Tuesday): End of the School Day**

Tsukiyo quietly packed her books away in her little black bag while the rest of her classmates rushed for the door. In truth the young lady really would have preferred to bring her Panda backpack to school, but they had much stricter rules about bags and uniforms compared to her old American school.

It was still proving hard to fit in here in truth. She was a girl of mixed parentage, one who spent a lot of time away from her homeland. It made her accent rather unusual compared to some of the other guys and girls in her grade. Been able to speak fluent Japanese in her local dialect with a slight Chicagoan flare wasn't a desirable trait in this school.

Why was that you might wonder? Karin Saito was the captain of the swimming team. That young lady by all accounts was a bit of a bully to any girl she didn't take a shine to. Not to mention she had a few of her fellow cronies from the Swim Team to back her up at times. Nobody knew why she did it, she just did. The strange thing that one of two students picked up on was that she was only mean to other girls, never the guys.

Still, Tsukiyo had decided to stay clear of her from the moment she arrived. Considering she usually lived a pretty quiet life with her parents always working, it made her very quiet and withdrawn by nature.

She wasn't the only one in school like this in hindsight. A handful of other students had transferred here from other schools. There was even supposed to be another student who was slightly older than all the others. Tsukiyo heard when she first started that this guy supposed to come from England. The principal told her he was here on an extended study program.

What was his name again? Mark, or something? She honestly couldn't remember. Anyway, that wasn't Tsukiyo's only 'blending in' issue, so to speak.

Her full name was quite the mouthful compared to the others students too. How many girls in this school seriously had a colourful name like, Tsukiyo Nishimura Cailin? Her middle name belonged to her mother. It was her maiden name before she got married to Tsukiyo's father.

Anyway, now wasn't the time to dwell on trivial things. It was time for Tsukiyo to leave school so she didn't miss the train!

The eyes of Miss Cailin glanced around the room for a moment while she absorbed the scenery around her. The pristine white walls in all these classrooms were a little bit mind-numbing to state at all day. When you added that to the cheap plastic chairs and those overly small wooden desks, it was no surprise that students were in a hurry to rush home! According to the teachers, this new 'Academy' type of school design was all the range in the more bustling cities around the country.

Only the people in clubs stayed later than they had to. Since the Art Club was only open on Wednesday and Friday it was all the more reason for Tsukiyo to leave.

The Japanese beauty adjusted her hair so her long dark locks draped down her back majestically. Her hair was long and wavy by nature, and it matched her mixed features very well in most situations. Once she was done with her hair she lightly patted her cheeks to wake herself from the wave of drowsiness she felt. It had been a long day

Once she stood her feet guided her from the back of the classroom toward the door. On her way to the exit she saw Karin Saito. This short young lady was pretty much regarded as the 'Bitch Queen' in school by a great many girls. For the first time this week though she was apparently not tempted to harass Tsukiyo. In fact, she didn't even pay any attention to her. It seemed that the Swim Team captain was busy talking to a few of her goons.

Miss Cailin ended up overhearing Karin's conversation on the way out of the room. It was all rumours and bluster as usual. Once Tsukyo was perched out of eyesight she quietly leaned up against the wall, just to take a little listen. Usually gossip was something she couldn't stand, but these girls where talking so loudly it was borderline obnoxious.

"Soooo… I bet you guys heard about Lennox and Asano from Four-D, didn't ya?" Karin blurted this out to her little crew of subordinates.

One of them placed her arms behind her back with a rather cheeky expression on her rounded face, "Yeaaaaahhh! They haven't been in school since Saturday! Nobody's heard from them or ANYTHING!"

Karin started to chuckle in a most sinister manner when her little friend graced her with her response. Once her arms where placed behind her back, she prepared to announce something, "Well, guess what I saw… You all know where Lennox lives right, near the Kawasaki bridge?"

Saito's trio of friends nodded eagerly with bated breath. Usually when stuff like this came up it would be some big scandal that they all needed to hear about!

Karin's expression became a little sly and naughty, her lips pursed to gesture kissing for a moment, "Well, I was going past his house on the bus! It was Saturday, and I saw Asano going inside his apartment!"

One of her friends eyes went wide in horror, "NO WAY?! You don't think they were doing, well… _YOU KNOW… _Do you Karin-chan?"

Karin spun on her heels with a sinister little smile plastered all over her lips, "Hehehe, you never know! We all remember what Asano's big brother was like with girls when HE was here a few years ago… Maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?!"

Another one of her goon squad, named Hiroko, screwed her eyes shut and winced for a moment, "Ewww… That's sooooo gross! We're sat here in classes, and they're shacked up in that apartment doing the dirty…."

A loud overly zealous laugh broke free from Karin as she turned her back on her classmates. The smile on her face was so very cruel and nasty, "You know what they say about the British. I bet they're all like that! One big pack of immoral sex crazies!"

From what Hiroko had seen of Negumi Asano, she wasn't even all that impressive, and she felt the need to voice that in this specific conversation, "But Negumi Asano? Why would he even… He might be a foreigner but Lennox is still a pretty smart guy in language class. I mean, Asano isn't even pretty or anything!"

"Maybe flat chested tomboys with bad tempers are his thing?! I bet if a REAL WOMAN like one of us went over to him he wouldn't know what to do!" As soon as Karin spoke the rest of the girls just chuckled in unison. The sad thing was they actually believed this conversation was fun.

The final voice Tsukiyo heard speaking was Karin's again. Miss Cailin wasn't a girl who harboured a grudge against anyone, but she really was beginning to dislike this girl. All she ever did watch bitch when people weren't around to defend themselves and it made her feel a little queasy in the stomach.

After letting out a disgusted little sigh Tsukiyo was quick to head off down the corridor. She went straight for the staircase without even looking back to think about what all those girls were talking about.

"They are so mean…" That was all long haired lady whispered under her breath to sum up that conversation.

Tsukiyo was always a firm believer in been kind and considerate to the other people around her. It was part of who she was to be soft and gentle. Even though her naturally shy side came out a lot, she was always willing to be empathetic and compassionate if others did the same for her.

After making her way down the staircase Miss Cailin went straight for her locker to fetch her shoes. After the all-important shoe changing ritual was done, she slung her black bag over her shoulder.

Her exit from the school building to the courtyard was a rather swift one. She had an art protect due for her newfound club mates in two days. Since visiting her brother at the hospital wasn't until tomorrow she wanted to get her painting finished as soon as possible.

So from there, with a little dash of haste in her step Tsukiyo departed. Onward to the train station she went!

* * *

**Tsukiyo's House: 7pm that evening**

The small traditional house that Tsukiyo lived in was all too quiet as always. There was a note resting on the kitchen table from her mother. It was the regular stuff for this early in the week. The news network had called her out on urgent Reporter business to cover another story.

In this city it was usually a late night business expose, a major crime to cover, or another case of the sleep sickness that everyone was so evident on ranting about.

"It figures…" Tsukiyo wasn't happy when she read that letter either. Same as always, there was nothing in the house but ramen or soup. Work always took priority in this house to the point where eating was undermined.

The Kitchen was always shiny and exceedingly well cared for on the other hand. That was probably because nobody actually stuck around long enough to cook in the damned thing…

All the glazed mahogany cabinets in the kitchen remained empty or unused. It was like a ghost town in here. There was only one thing that was in clear abundance within this small house…

"Boxes… Why mother, did you not unpack some more of these boxes?" Tsukiyo was working her way across the kitchen area to the staircase in the hallway. In truth, the sheer sight of all these cardboard boxes or plastic storage units was starting to get on her nerves.

Hell, her dad's stuff wasn't even going to be moved here for another couple of months. He wasn't even due home until summer! There was a strange sense of Irony in all this.

Tsukiyo's father was the one who suggested they move back home so they could have a 'Normal Life'. There was nothing NORMAL about any of this situation. Sure, the Cailin daughter had returned to her native homeland, but nothing had changed. Dad switched his commitments due to work at the last moment. So that pretty much meant he would only be in Japan a couple of months of the year. Plus, the second Tsukiyo's mother returned home she picked up her old journalist position in town and that was it. BOOM! Both her parents where absorbed in work again.

After she shook those thoughts from her mind Miss Cailin swished her hair back from the curves of her hips and began to ascend the staircase. Another thing she notched as soon as she returned upstairs was that the carpet, or specifically, lack of. They hadn't even called somebody over to put a carpet down on the upstairs floor.

By that point she had pretty much reached her limit. She rolled her eyes while a slight scoff broke free from her throat, "This house…"

Saying nothing more than that, she traversed the bare floor. A faint pattering of feet could be heard echoing through the hollow, almost empty house. Once Tsuki reached her bedroom she pulled down on the handle of the crudely painted white door, and nudged her way inside lethargically.

As soon as the familiar sight of her bedroom met with her eyes she felt at ease with things once more. This room was her comfort zone! It was a happy place that she had made her own while the rest of the house felt so bare in comparison!

It was the biggest bedroom in the house as well. Still, that made very little difference. Since she the young lady spent so much of her life on the move. She had far more space than possessions to fill it with.

The feeling of the soft dark purple carpet that touched Tsukiyo's feet when she walked inside the room was almost velvety soft. Unlike the rest of this ghostly house, this room was cared for even though its occupant had only been there for a week.

The first thing Tsukiyo did was find the time to go out a couple of days prior. She carefully her own carpet, and even called a carpenter to fit it. A great deal of this room had already been lovingly prepared. The still white walls were covered over by an array of Visual K and artsy style posters.

Most prominently was the bed in which this young lady slept. This comfy looking queen sized bed was supported on a glossy looking wooden frame. The covers for her sheets took the form of dark purple finished in a ruby red flower print. Plus at the end of the bed, rested a lone teddy bear! He was a cuddly tiger that the young lady owned since she was just a wee child.

Once a hearty breath of air from this room was taken in by the Japanese teen, she unbuttoned the blue Tetsuo academy blazer she adorned, been careful to make sure it was neatly placed at the foot of her bed.

Once she was in more comfy position the stockings that came up past her knees where slowly rolled down by her fragile fingers, and were promptly nudged beneath her bed by the heel of her right foot.

There she found herself sat alone, in the eerie silence of this desolate house. Her deeply lonely brown eyes appeared to be admiring a piece of canvas that sat atop a drawing board.

* * *

It was so finely detailed that even a skilled artist would have given it due credit. Academically, Tsukiyo was not the strongest candidate. She struggled greatly with things such as Math, History, and especially Science. Her biggest feat in school was been able to pick up on English so well. It was more likely that her time outside of Asia was responsible for perfecting such a skill however.

Still, in terms of Art, and especially painting, this young lady seemed to be a natural. From the four secluded walls of her room she would spend night after night painting whatever came into her vastly creative imagination. All the money she had at her disposal was spent on oil pants to canvas, or the occasional book related to the works of great artists.

For the past three weeks she had been working on a truly beautiful picture that awoke within her imagination while she was still in America. A dream was responsible for giving her this wonderful creative material, and she had lovingly created this mental image from scratch over the previous weeks.

While she gazed at this painting once more, the images began to race through the mind of young Tsukiyo..

In this dream Tsuki was stood alone in the middle of a massive lake of ice. Around her were the vast towering forms of icy mountain peaks, coupled with the beautiful fall of winter snow. It was like a wonderland of eternal that seemed to exist in some far off realm in another world. There was not a hint of malice from this pure place of tranquillity. Only the beauty of a thousand falling snowflakes existed here.

From a blur of snowy wind came an elegant maiden. In her hands she lovingly held a crystal ball, and was adorned in beautiful purple robes. These beautiful hand crafted garments bore the insignia of snowflakes that seemed to dance in the coldness of the winter night. Most beautiful of all was her skin… Delicate and cold to the touch, it shared the same paleness of pure white snow. Yet, at the same time her crystal blue eyes and majestic white hair where enough to ensnare the heart of any who saw her. These amazing snow-white locks where dead straight, and flowed freely down her back.

Tsukiyo stood beside this maiden of pure beauty, in awe of the aura of sheer power she possessed, and in that final moment before Tsukiyo awoke, the princess spoke to her! These words were few, but remained in her brain to this day…

"_I am Yukihime… My child, you and I shall walk the same path… Do not give up hope, for I will always be at your side."_

Tsukiyo let her eyes flutter open as she returned from her daydream. It left her with a bright and cheerful smile adorning her soft pinkish lips. Her deep and emotionally serene gaze continued to admire the painting of the beautiful maiden that she had created with love and affection…

Before too long the young lady felt a wave or tiredness consuming her body. Even though it still wasn't very late a soft little yawn escaped from her mouth. She was indeed, feeling rather sleepy all of a sudden.

Moving back softly, she lifted her legs off the ground and sat there on her bed crossed legged for a little while. Slowly, one little bit at a time she felt that powerful urge to get some rest consuming her beautiful curvy form. It had been a long day and mom wasn't going to be home until very late.

Miss Cailin uncrossed her legs so she could stretch them out across the entirety of her lovely soft bed. She used her petite arms to pull herself a little further up the bed. Once she was done her head rested neatly on the softness of her pillow.

Slowly but surely, the young lady drifted to sleep. The only sound that came from her peacefully sleeping form was the faint melody of gentle breathing. She was about to enter the land of sleep, and unbeknown to her, the world of dreams…

**End of Chapter 5**


	6. The Moon Arcana

**Chapter 6 Part 1: The Moon Arcana**

Eternal darkness was what all good and loving human souls feared the most. They lamented the day when their peaceful little lives were cast into the oblivion of condemnation. In a world like this one only those who were gifted could survive. All the rest would be simple victims, cattle for slaughter. Inside the purest of light there was a hint of evil and corruption. Yet, in the most infernal of blackness, there was also the tiniest flickering beacon of light. Such was the way of the human soul.

The Dreamscape was not a simple realm of dreams and nightmares anymore. Deep within its winding corridors were the doorways to another realm of existence. It was a place where only the strongest of heart can venture. Beneath the tainted halls of this once peaceful land of the sleeping awaited a place of corruption and torment. It became simply known as, the Veil of Nightmares.

From the moment Tsukiyo Cailin fell asleep her life was destined to take a traumatic turn. She had no idea of the future that would soon await her. When it was time for her to awake again, she would not be laying upon the softness of her warm bed. In fact, her soul would no longer be within the world of the waking. The dreamscape was calling out for her. The twisted occupants of its pathways hungered for another soul.

'_So let the chosen gather in this basilica of trials. One by one let the pieces assemble on the chess board. The gifted children who stand in the light shall unite, eagerly awaited by the general of eternal blackness. Stand as one, in your hopes and dreams or this world will surely perish. This story is only just beginning.'_

* * *

**Within The Dreamscape: The Graveyard**

Those words echoed in the head of the young lady as her senses returned to her body. The first thing she felt pressing against her face was the icy cold dampness of the mushy ground. Faint whispers with a seductive allure echoed from all four corners of the room. Her eyes were still shut tightly. The resulting blackness kept her blinded to the truth around her.

Slowly those fragile brown eyes of hers opened. A fog still clouded over her vision as she struggled to regain the senses she had lost. The body of the teenage girl had almost no energy remaining. She was dry of any form of strength. Given a little time her vision returned, but what she saw was not the familiar sight of her bedroom.

Once the shroud that enveloped her vision cleared, the eyes of Tsukiyo Cailin met with a frightful sight. She found herself glaring at a fleshy looking wall. Blood oozed free from the cracks of its cancerous confines and it made her feel sick. This thing was pulsating; throbbing with life like it had free will of its own.

Agony ridden eyes of a skeletal corpse stared back at the young Japanese beauty. The cavernous eye sockets oozed with maggots, its mouth opened wide with an expression of pure agony. It was almost like the wall had devoured this poor person, and then promptly sucked its body halfway inside.

This display of sheer soul crushing terror made Tsukiyo's entire body wrack with nausea. The contents of her stomach began to turn over. Although her legs remained limp as she sat on the fleshy ground of this hellish place, her mind was in overdrive.

The eyes of the girl were now consumed with fear. They moved quickly from left to right to examine the nightmarish realm she had somehow arrived in…

This entire landscape was a massive cave of demonic blackness. Guts and sinew spewed from the bodies of the recent victims, who remained fused to the walls and ceilings. Some of those poor souls were still alive too. Those who weren't entirely dead were slowly been fed upon by this living cavern of evil. Faint cries or pain rasped from their lips. These pleas to be saved remained too quiet for any in the world of the waking to hear. Sadly, each and every one of them was destined to die.

What remained of those who had long since died was little at best. Their once beautiful majestic bodies became reduced to piles of mushy flesh that this barbaric living cemetery assimilated to further strengthen its walls. A great many simply resembled skeletons, their spiritual energy long since gorged upon by the demons who stalked these halls.

Tsuki's beautifully curvy form shook with incomprehensible fear for her life. A shallow scream escaped from her soft pink lips. Her legs seemed to move on their own and she shakily stood on two feet, but all she could do from there was hide her face in her hands while she sobbed crystal tears

"Where am I? What is this… horrible place?" She continued crying while her legs moved forward in self-preservation.

This place was nothing pure maliciousness, combined with an unshakeable apatite to kill. The teenage girl could feel the silent eyes of evil entities watching her, yet she could not escape. Through tear drenched eyes she struggled to push onward. All she could do now was try and persevere against all the truly spine chilling thing she had seen.

Unable to go anywhere else, Tsukiyo kept walking and walking. Those tears of hers slowly dried out when her body was unable to force her to sob any longer. Far off in the distance she could make out a massive fleshy looking object. Was it some kind of Animal?

She cautiously kept walking to try and close the gap with this strange thing, whatever it was. As she slowly progressed the distance between herself and this fleshy mass shrank, her eyes were also getting a better view of what it was as well. Once she stopped directly in front of it, her hand was instantly placed over her mouth.

Miss Cailin observed this creature in truly frightened awe of its massive size, "It looks like a frog… Some kind of huge Bullfrog." She spoke.

This obscene abomination was indeed, some kind of frog-like creation. However, it didn't look right at all. It's towering size was one thing, but it's skin was jet black like midnight. Disfigured cancerous lumps violently erupted from the side of the gigantic body. Some of them even held the appearance of been burst, or maybe they exploded?

One of the eyes of this vile specimen had a massive hole punched through it, while the other looked like it was stabbed with a sharp object. Most disgusting of all was the mouth. It still hung open, semi agape. From the huge oral opening Tsukiyo could clearly see ragged teeth shaped like broken glass. Pooled all around the body of this sickeningly gruesome beast was a thick substance of purest black that oozed like tar. The young Japanese woman looked carefully, and could see that this stuff had leaked from one of the puncture wounds in the side of the frog's body.

"…Oh my… That has to be blood." It was a simple conclusion to reach if one looked close enough.

Still, something else was able to catch the eye of the black haired artist. Once she turned her head little so her eyesight could focus properly, she stepped forward to examine another liquid that lightly stained the underfoot with droplets of crimson

It was a deep scarlet red in colour. It trailed faintly across the mulch-like ground in a slightly uneven line, and it finally came to a head at the top of a downward leading staircase. Tsukiyo kneeled to look closer, and a hint of fear struck her senses…

"What if this is… human blood?" Such a thought did honestly make her feel even sicker to the core.

She returned to standing upright again once she was done looking. By now the school uniform she wore was tattered and dirty, the sandals on her feet just as equally soiled with filth. Bitter auras radiated from the staircase were the trail of blood stopped. Yet, something was telling Cailin not to back away in fear.

A faint sense of compassion was the cause. A tiny flame of strength that resided somewhere within her very core was what told her not to leave. Even though she was petrified, going down those stairs seemed like something she had to do. There was no way to explain it. She just… had to.

Without her mind even fully registering it Tsukiyo's body moved on its own. Her legs came closer and closer to the foot of this staircase. Once a few seconds passed by she found herself stood nervously at its foot. Her eyes gazed down into a pool of blackness that awaited her upon descent.

"Don't be frightened… Tsuki… don't cry…" The young lady could only find those simple, fragile words to comfort herself.

The body of this emotionally fragile young woman was gripped with fear. There was nothing more she wanted to do than cry again. Still, this feeling within her heart to fight on continued to guide her forward. Tsukiyo's left foot was cautiously placed on the first stair. From there, she continued to carefully descend to the next level.

* * *

**The Graveyard: 1 Floor Down**

It was a few minutes before Miss Cailin was fully able to reach the bottom of the staircase. Once she arrived at the button of the staircase the scene around her had changed slightly. It was still very strong in similarity to the level above, but one difference did catch her attention.

Coffins appeared to be embedded into the walls of this level. Decaying corpses sprawled across the ground before the Japanese girl. They looked like something out of one of those disgusting cult horror movies. Tsukiyo had never watched one, but in her old school she had a friend she talked to at lunchtimes. He was a zombie fanatic by habit.

These horrific half-rotted things resembled the fiends that her friend would often mention in his lunchtime ranting.

Still, Tsukiyo continued to fight hard to push that sickening fear to the very depths of her stomach. With that sense of having to continue onward still guiding her, those legs of hers continued to walk.

The lighting appeared to be little darker down here, compared to the place above where she awoke. Not too much darker, but still enough to slightly increase that sense of unease that loomed. Her sandals squelched against the fleshy underfoot as the girl walked. Right then and there, in the middle of this coffin filled nightmare, an aura of desperation hit her.

It was almost like she could sense another human life not too far off in the distance. She took a single step forward, but before she could go any further…

The entire place Tsukiyo found herself in shook violently! It occurred at the exact same time as a distant explosion! This massive BOOM rung off in the distance, and a resulting wave of heat rushed down the passageway!

This surge of energy travelled far and fast! It was so powerful that when this intense gust of heat hit Tsuki it knocked her backwards and she landed square on her butt. A faint feeling of soreness graced her derriere once it impacted with the ground. The young lady winced in discomfort.

"Owwie…." Once the Japanese beauty rose to her feet again she took a second to place a hand on her abused buttock to rub it better, promptly pushing forward afterward.

With every single moment that slipped by this sense of urgency that Tsukiyo felt was mounting higher and higher. Her senses acted as the guide in this darkened place for which she held contempt. Time passed like lightening as her advance down this hallway continued.

Eventually, she came to a stop in a wide open burial pit infested with coffins. This is what the thin passage she was traversing a moment ago let to. Once Tsukiyo came to a stop at the entrance to this wide open cavern within the passageway she faintly saw two figures stood a little walk away from her!

The young lady hurried forward, but before she could reach the two Tsukiyo saw one of them slowly walking over to her. It would have been a good idea to remain defensive for now, so she continues to stand firm while approached.

Miss Cailin's heart soared when she got a closer look at this person! She was Japanese, with a thin slender body and medium height. She wore a blood stained school uniform that was ripped and tattered in several places. There was a thick smudge of dirt on her left cheek, and perhaps worst of all a deep cut at the side of her neck! This young woman was perhaps about the same age as her!

Tsuki remained quiet while the other girl gave her a fiery glance. Her eyes bore the flames of determination, but in truth, whoever this girl was, she looked run ragged.

"No way… You're ANOTHER ONE?" The girl questioned in a stunned tone of voice.

Tsukiyo didn't even comprehend what was meant by 'ANOTHER ONE'. Instead she simply remained quiet while the stranger prepared to speak.

"Negumi… That's my name. If you can get us out of here, then please lend a hand."

So Negumi was this girl's name? Right, okay… Tsukiyo was seriously messed up by everything she had already seen here so far. On another front, she didn't even know the way she got in here, let alone getting out.

Tsukiyo softly brushed a dirty strand of her black her aside before looking shyly upon the other young woman, "I don't even know how I got in here." Miss Cailin's words where heartfelt and honest.

The aura projected from Negumi became slightly aggressive when the sound of footsteps met her ears. She spun around to intercept, but felt her hostility decline when she saw who it was behind her.

There was now somebody else stood shakily behind Negumi. Tsukiyo was taking the moment to get a closer look at this person.

He was a guy, at least a good six inches taller than both the young ladies here. His body was slightly muscular, buffing a little bit more around the arms, and he wore Denim jeans, along with a white T shirt. The skin of this young man was a very light white, so Tsukiyo pretty much picked up on the fact he wasn't a Japanese native right away.

His eyes, though pained in expression were an emerald green. He bore a light nine o clock shadow, with a light scar on his face… His hair, Tsukiyo initially thought was a pleasing colour to look at. It was a very light blond, a whitish golden hue. It was medium length, and rested slightly below his ears, just stopping before touching the tops of his shoulders. Most prominent of all, was its natural dead straightness.

"Sempai! You need to stop moving! You're hurt!" Tsukiyo instantly snapped back to reality when she heard this girl called Negumi yelling. It was all the prompting Miss Cailin needed to catch a glimpse of this man's injury too!

Tsuki's eyes came downward, followed pretty quickly by a slightly frightened gasp! This young man's right side had a thick patch of blood oozing through, beneath his t shirt. His hand seemed to be gripping this wound concealed by the t shirt tightly, but he did not look well…

"I'm gonna… I'll be fine. I'll call out Tamiko, and then we can…" When the young man started to speak Tsukiyo picked up on something slightly out of the ordinary.

His accent was slightly different compared to that of a native Japanese speaker. It held the flare of another country within it. Judging by his appearance and his accent, Tsuki assumed that Japanese was not his first language.

Before he could finish his sentence though, this blond haired man started to topple. Tsukiyo watched in horror as the young man simply fell forward and hit the floor with a THUD!

"Lennox-Sempai? MIKE!" Negumi kneeled in a fluster to hold her fainted comrade upright. A terrified look dominated her usually determined expression. The Foreign man's eyes were shut, more blood leaked from his wound…

There was little time to register what was going on around the small group. The terrible scream of something malicious shook the entire burial pit in the centre of this level of the Graveyard. The air became frightfully malicious, laced with purely sadistic intent. The two conscious girls were been watched by a pair of sadistic black eyes.

Negumi was too busy trying to get Mike to wake up right now to even pick up on the change in temperament around her. Tsuki on the other hand, was not so absorbed. She could feel it.. It was right there. This presence was all over her, its intent was clear… It wanted to kill.

A mighty roar rippled through the entire burial chamber! Its sheer power shook the ceiling with enough force to make coffins fall from above, into the pit below! The roar was so brutally strong that Negumi was actually flung backward into a wall! She ended up slamming her side into a coffin, and Tsukiyo feared the worst. The young lady wasn't moving.

With two down, that only left Miss Cailin standing! The most distorted and Satanic of laughs rumbled forth from the burial pit within the room. From its deep coffin filled mass began to crawL a massive decaying behemoth with two heads…

This thing had the appearance of a massive two headed ogre. It was rotted in parts with oozing black tar for blood. This thick acidic substance leaked from the decomposed parts of its foul smelling flesh, as it came crawling forth from the mass of coffins. Once it had successfully stood itself upright at the edge of the pit, its blood red eyes fell upon Tsukiyo.

"**The soul of a virgin… Indeed the most pure… You're mine, girl…" **After it spoke this most wretched creation began stomping slowly toward Miss Cailin. It bore the most disgusting look in the eyes of its two heads.

Tsukiyo fell backward while a terrified scream of fear broke free from her lungs! Her eyes pooled with tears once more, while she prayed and prayed silently in her mind. If this was all some sick dream, she really wanted to wake up!

"I want to wake up… Please let me wake up… I don't want to be here…"

The Japanese beauty crawled backwards using her hands and feet to desperately try to move away from this hellion, but alas, she eventually felt her back hit a wall. There truly wasn't any escape. Was this it? Was she going to die here? Tsukiyo clenched her eyes shut…

"I don't want to die… I still need to find my special place in life… PLEEAAASEE! HELP MEE!" The last part of that sentence was screamed so loud that a headache actually ripped through the Japanese girl's head…

The monstrous decomposing giant reached down to grab her in its skeletal left hand, but before its maggoty digits reached her, a bright light erupted from the body of young Tsuki.

Once it subsided the entire burial pit and the area surrounding it was flash frozen in a mighty casing of ice! The temperature dropped so cold that Tsukiyo felt her entire body freezing up! Still, she was in total shock.

As her eyes scanned the area she realized that the entire place looked like the massive frozen glacier… When she turned to the side she saw the still forms of Negumi the man she called Mike. Both of whom had somehow been magically shielded from the blizzard. They remained intact, their chests lightly heaving up and down to symbolize they still lived.

The rotten Ogre was frozen solid like a massive ice sculpture. In this somewhat surreal moment Tsukiyo could sense no further life resonating from its body. It was dead… somehow.

Tsuki's eyes were suddenly drawn to a figure in the room that she didn't notice until now. It looked familiar! A woman whom she had painted lovingly in her artwork at home! Her purple robe clad princess, Yukihime! She floated gently in mid-air, her warming gaze of purity fixed on young Tsukiyo…

"Fear not my child; I will always remain beside you. For now and for always." Those words came faithfully from the mouth of the beautiful princess who adorned the magical robes.

Not a moment after that the Princess glittered into magical snowflakes and dispersed like she was never even there. The giant monster stood before Tsuki began to crack like it was destined to break. Peace by peace it's colossal form crumbled apart and evaporated into sheer nothingness.

"Yukihime…" Tsukiyo whispered.

Finally, in a bright flash of light, everything vanished…

* * *

**Tsukiyo's House (Wednesday): 1am**

Tsukiyo's eyes opened once more. She found herself curled up into a ball in the middle of her soft bed. Her chest slowly heaved for breath as the young woman hauled herself upright to sit with crossed legs.

There she remained, shaking in fear of the insanity that she had just experienced.

"Oh? What is this?" She felt her foot brush up against something on her bed. It felt like… some kind of postcard maybe?

When Tsuki looked down she found a pair of strange tarot cards. They were placed face up right next to her feet. It was dark, so she couldn't see them very well. After scooping them up she made her way toward the light switch, promptly giving the cord a swift pull.

For some bizarre reason that she could not explain, Tsukiyo thought these cards were important. She had one held in her left hand, with the other in her right. The eyes of Miss Cailin promptly fell upon the one in her left hand first.

The card was irregular to look at. It resembled a lantern, with an open eye beneath it, gazing forward expectantly. The Roman numeral IX was also printed at the bottom of the card.

In her right hand was a card that resembled a feminine figure with a slender figure, stood beside a mighty lion. The numeral for this card was XI

Once both cards where looked at, Tsuki felt a familiar aura wisp into the room. It entered her mind and enveloped her thoughts for a brief second…

"_My dear child, you must find the wielder of the Hermit Arcana, and the wielder of the Strength Arcana. Together with them both is where you belong… Arcana of the Moon, step forth, and open your lonely heart to the world."_

The voice that spoke was Yukihime…

Miss Cailin looked puzzled at those words she heard, but she knew to trust them, "Hermit Arcana, and Strength?"

Tomorrow at school, she would try her best to piece together the events of this insane night. From there, she could begin looking into the strange message that Yukihime left her.

Tsukiyo didn't know it yet, but she was destined to become the third Persona user…

**End of Chapter 6**


	7. Awakening from a Nightmare

**Chapter 6 Part 2 - Awakening from a Nightmare**

* * *

**The Lennox Residence- (Wednesday) 1am**

Negumi's eyes came wide open and she found herself staring at the ceiling of her Sempai's living room. It took a few moments for her brain to register that she had escaped in one piece from the Dreamscape. Her pattern of breathing remained somewhat unsteady, inhaling and exhaling heftily. So much time passed that she lost track of it all for a moment.

It was the sound of a sharp cough of pain that brought her back to reality. She sat bolt upright in a single hurried movement. Mike was sat up, part of him was leaning up against the couch to support his body. He look stunned, totally mind blown.

"Sempai… Are you feeling okay?" It was a cautious question from the young Junior of Lennox.

The Brit remained silent to her. In a very slow process of movement he carefully lifted his shirt. The wince of pain his face adopted was blatantly obvious.

Negumi called out again, "SEMPAI!"

Lennox flinched lightly before letting out a sigh of relief. It looked like Miss Asano made him jump for a second there, "Asano… I don't see any injury, but it still hurts really bad…"

For a brief moment the hot-headed tomboy closed her eyes. A soft sight escaped from her soft lips, "There's something I need to tell you, Sempai. Wounds our bodies sustain in the dreamscape… Sometimes the pain stays with you after you wake up…"

The look on the face of the British man can only be described as 'extremely uneasy' at the very best, "So you're saying that the threat of dying inside there is pretty damn real?!"

There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted for a good minute. The Japanese fighting girl slowly looked up to her now impatient looking Sempai, followed by a stern nod, "Yes. Since our spirits depart from our bodies to enter the Dreamscape, there is a risk of death. If something inside the Dreamscape kills us, our souls die… Spiritual death means our bodies have nothing to fill them back here."

Mike shook his head with a rather hollow chuckle of disbelief, "I can pretty much guess something here… I'm gonna go out on a limb and say… If our sleeping bodies are destroyed in the real world, we die in the Dreamscape too?!"

That comment ended up striking a nerve with Negumi. There was a minor flinch from the young lady when she heard her senior friend speak.

This time, without the silence of before, she looked him square in the eyes, "Yes, that's right. It does work both ways, Sempai."

Lennox did not waste a single second to drag himself up on the couch. When he stood upright though, the pain of his dreamscape injury slowed him somewhat, "So we're stuck like this now, huh?!"

The tone Mike took there was a little more edgy than usual. Clearly this was a lot to take in.

Negumi stayed on the couch, her legs now stretched out while she kept a pillow on her lap, "Once your power within the dreamscape awakens, you can never go back. Unless you lock yourself inside a dream door to rest, you have no choice but to walk those halls..."

It was a little unnerving for Negumi as she watched her Sempai go silent after she spoke. He simply turned his back and walked toward the fridge. It was past the coffee table, sat beside the kitchen unit.

She watched his movements nervously, "Sempai?"

Mikey swung the refrigerator door open, kneeled down for a moment to rummage around for a something too. From the button shelf of the fridge he produced a can of Asahi. It was a brand of Japanese beer. It became exceedingly popular back in the U.K a few years back, but at that point Mike wasn't old enough old enough to drink yet.

Still, that didn't stop him from cracking open this can of beer he produced from the fridge. Negumi watched with a worried expression as she saw him chug down half the can in one single swoop.

In truth, Mike's dad Charlie wasn't bothered by his drinking at home. Considering the drinking age back in England was younger, as long as he kept his drinking in Japan indoors there were no serious complaints from his busy father.

"You know…" She started, "The drinking age in Japan is Twenty… You really shouldn't be drinking Sempai."

The British man sat himself down at the coffee table with his half can of beer. Once he was comfy he leaned back into the chair slightly, and then turned to face his junior, "Drinking age back home is eighteen… Besides, I think I need one after what we've just been through."

Negumi's brow twitched in minor frustration, "You don't have to sound like such a Jerk over it, ya know?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders softly then promptly gave a quiet sigh of defeat. He chugged down the other half of the beer, and then looked at Negumi apologetically, "I seriously wasn't trying to sound nasty over it. It's just that there's a serious load of shit that's happened since we went inside there…"

It was at that moment Negumi set upright on the couch. She glanced down at the floor, where something actually caught her attention, "Huh? What's this?"

She Leaned down to pick up the foreign objects from the ground. Strangely, they were a pair of tarot cards. Both of them shimmered with a faint magical aura. It was strong enough to illuminate the darkness of the lounge.

It even caught Mike's attention too. He turned his body to face Negumi, promptly walking back over to look at what she had found, "Those… aren't mine…" His eyes remained fixed on the tarot cards with curiosity.

"Here!" Negumi handed her Sempai one of the two cards. "You should take one of these. Look at it!"

Negumi focused her eyes upon the card that she held between her slender fingers. This tarot card had the picture of a moon engraved upon it, along with the Roman numeral XVIII. While she glanced at it, she found herself intrigued by the light that resonated from it.

At that very moment the apartment seemed to get a little warmer…

A powerful aura filled the room that the two teenagers sat in, and it caught the attention of both of them.

"_The two of you must find the one who bares the insignia of the Moon Arcana. Once her power is combined with your own, the doors to the Dreamscape will continue to open."_

Those were the only words spoken by a pure and innocent voice. Mere moments later that very same presence vanished, leaving Mike and Negumi alone again…

"The Moon Arcana?" Said Mike. "So that's what gotta be what these cards mean…"

Negumi leaned in closer to link her line of sight with her British Sempai, "That voice… She was telling us to find somebody… Another Persona user, maybe?"

Mike shrugs at that one, "But whom?"

The sound of Negumi snapping her fingers was enough to perk Mike's attention. She had something in mind, "That girl we saw… She was the new Transfer student… Cailin… I think that might be her name, Sempai." Spoke Negumi.

Lennox gives a nod of agreement, "Then we find her, but… tomorrow. Look, Negumi!"

The blond haired staff-fighter produced his phone from the pocket of his shorts. He flipped up the screen to show her the date, "We've been out for two days… It's nearly two in the morning… We should both take some sleeping pills; lock ourselves inside a dream or something… We need real sleep."

A little chuckle escaped from Negumi, "You're right… We can deal with this at school, later today."

"Let me guess," Mike shrugged his shoulders. "Time passes slower in the Dreamscape compared to the world of the awake?"

Negumi just nodded with a hopeless little sigh, "Yeaahh… That's also right, Lennox-Sempai."

Her blond haired friend just rolled his eyes with a tired little sigh, "How wonderful…"

* * *

**Outside the Lennox Residence - 2.03am**

Negumi was stood outside the door to Mike's apartment. The young lady was wearing a long tank top along with a pair of dark green shorts. To stop herself from getting too cold she wore a synthetic fur coat over the top with a nice fluffy hood.

She gave a wave to her Sempai, "I'll take the late bus home, don't you worry… Sempai, I'll… see you tomorrow at school. Be safe if you enter the Dreamscape again… Find a dream door at the entrance and lock yourself inside. That way… you should safe when you sleep."

A thumbs up his a response that Lennox chose to give to her, "Of course… Stay safe, and I'll see you later Asano."

The young lady nodded, "Goodnight, and rest easy." For the slightest moment, her expression became very soft and compassionate.

Mike watched tiredly as Negumi began to walk away. She went to the end of the balcony and then down the staircase. After watching her get that far Mike decided it was time to head back inside.

The young man turned his back, followed by a sleepy yawn. After the door shut behind him, he flicked off the hallway light and dragged his sleepy-self back toward that comfy couch in the lounge.

Without any warning his exhausted body slumped forward on its own and fell on the thing full force, "Five hours until school… great," Sighed Mike.

This night had gone on far too long…

**End of Chapter 6 Part 2**


	8. Standing United

**Chapter 8: Standing United**

**An Unknown Place…**

Everything was a blur at first… Their bodies all felt heavy like they were lined with a thick outer coating of lead. They couldn't see, and their senses remained numb for the moment.

The first one whose eyes opened was Tsukiyo… Everything was blurred, but this time she was relived to find herself on a soft carpet, not the fleshy ground of some nightmare realm…

With a slightly pained groan she pushed herself up so she was sat upright on the floor… This place was bizarre… It seemed to be another plane of existence entirely. A huge clock ticked in the centre of the room, and there was a purple door…

Most prominent in here was a couch, in which an elderly man with a slightly crazed expression sat…

"Welcome, to the Velvet room. Miss Cailin… it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Igor…"

Tsukiyo shakily dragged herself to her feet, making nervous eye contact with the man who she assumed had just spoken to her.

With light grunts and groans from the pair, Mike and Negumi were slowly waking up and pulling themselves to their feet as well.

Mike was the first up, and he held his sore head with a groan. Once his eyes surveyed the scenery around him, he chuckled, "I've been here before…"

Negumi was less responsive, a little annoyed in fact.

"Welcome back, Miss Asano, Mr Lennox… I did tell you both that you would return…"

Negumi's eyes fell upon Igor with a less than pleased look, "Hmm… I was hoping that day was a long time away…"

Igor's elderly fingers started to tap musically on the table before him. On that table were three Tarot cards. The Moon, Strength, and The Hermit…

"Please seat yourselves… The time I have with you here is short…" Igor spoke softly.

The three Persona users glanced at each other, back to the man, and then back to one another a second time. Eventually, they each seated themselves. Negumi sat herself on the couch that was opposite Igor. She sat on the left side, with Tsukiyo seating herself in the middle, close to Mike, who was on the right.

"You made me sign that contract… You care to throw me a bone here?" Mike was speaking to Igor rather expectantly to try and get some answers.

Igor simply chuckled, ran his fingers across the three tarot cards, and gave a crooked smile. At the same moment all three cards glittered with energy again.

"Each of you will find the answer to your questions within the Dreamscape…. It is why you were called here, to enter that place… and stop the evil of your own free will…"

A swirl of energy formed around Igor's smallish body. It warped and twisted, forming into a gateway that glared into the dreamscape… All three of the young persona users could see the Graveyard, a place they had all witnessed the horrors of before.

Igor's eyes came back to the three who sat opposite him, "The Dreamscape was once a peaceful place of tranquillity. That is no longer the case… Demons roam its halls now, and they feast upon the souls of those who dream…"

Even though each one of them wanted to try and deny this in some form, too much had happened at this point to dismiss the goings on as simple dreams. Demons had attacked them while they slept, and it was almost like…

Mike's eyes became dead serious when the realization hit him, "We're being…. TARGETED."

"Indeed my boy…." Igor clasped his bony hands together, his eyes narrowed. "Demons are drawn to you, because each one of you is a threat to them…"

Tsukiyo crossed her legs over, a fearful expression filling those eyes of hers. Her body shuddered slightly because she was genuinely afraid, "I erm… This 'Persona' thing… I don't understand…"

"My dear girl," Igor spoke to Tsukiyo. "The Persona is your gift. It is the power you hold within your heart. It is what gives you the strength to defeat those demons. By strengthening your bonds with others, you will gain greater power to defeat them."

"Links with others?" This was confusing poor Miss Cailin more by the second.

Igor leaned forward from his seat slightly, his clasped hands squeezed together tightly, "Only by working together, building new links with others, and finding new followers, will you have what it takes to bring an end to the Sleep Sickness."

Tsukiyo honestly seemed more scared than thrilled over the idea of having such a power at her disposal. Still, part of her, deep within her heart, knew why it was given to her.

Igor's hands clapped together a single time, the three cards sat on the table entered the hands of their respective owners again, and with eyes brimming with expectation, he spoke, "My message to you all is simple… You must find your purpose together, not separated, only then, will the path become clear…"

"Stand together…" Negumi whispered.

She turned her head, her glance falling upon both Mike and Tsukiyo, "I think from this point on, we should work together… Since we have no choice but to go in there…"

A certain British person in the room needed no persuading, "You know I'm with you Asano. I thought about it last night, and if this is really the kinda shit I have to face... Then I'm gonna stand up and face it… I don't run from my challenges…"

Two specific words from Negumi's initial sentence got Miss Cailin's attention more than any of the others, "We have no choice?" Tsuki asked fearfully.

Negumi paused for a moment. She took a moment to think of the right way to respond, then continued, "Once you have the power of a Persona you can't hide anymore… You have to face the Dreamscape, or the demons will find you…"

Such a truly awful thing made poor Tsukiyo frightened to death… It really did, but still… For some reason, she felt that she could trust these two to support her. She couldn't quite say why yet, but it was a hunch she wanted to believe would prove right.

Her eyes fluttered over to Negumi, then looked back to Mike… Finally, when she did speak, they were gazing at Mike.

"…Then… I know I've only just met you both, but… if I can't avoid going in there again… I would rather it is with the two of you…" Alas, Tsuki's decision, while rushed and fearful, had been made.

Mike's usually relaxed gaze turned pretty darn serious in reflection of what was just said, "You sure about that… Miss Cailin?"

While Tsuki's eyes most certainly were wracked with fear, she was determined not to run away from this… No matter how scared, she would try her best to stay strong… she had to. "Y-Yes… Lennox-San… I will try my best…"

Those were the all-important words that Igor needed to hear from the three. It was proof that, even facing truly massive odds, they would attempt to stand and fight. Now that Igor had the clarification he needed, his part in this affair was done.

It was time to send the three bearers of the Arcana back to their own world… With a snap of his fingers, Igor exerted his power over the Velvet room. All three of the Persona users started to feel their heads becoming woozy again… The room started to turn dark, everything spun from corner to corner, and then, there was blackness.

"While your time here is over for now, when your quest truly begins, you will gain the power to enter this place at will… Remember that children, and find the way, united as one."

In his final moments before passing out, Mike twitched, "Getting a bit annoyed with all this warping around…"

His body could spare no more energy after that, and he collapsed…

* * *

**Tetsuo Academy (Wednesday 7pm)**

"Miss Cailin… Hey, you okay?!" Tsuki's eyes slowly opened to the sound of Mike's slightly worried voice.

Once the fog in her vision cleared she looked around to survey the scene. All three of them were back on the roof. The sun was setting, and the air was cold. Mike was sat the closest to her, with Negumi shuffled a little ways away.

"…I'm…fine, Lennox-San. Thank you, though." Tsuki smiled sweetly at the British man.

All the while Asano-San was very distant at first glance. She seemed like a personal space kinda girl. Then again, she had that sort of expression that displayed deep thought. Was something on her mind?

That was indeed the case… Negumi had something very important on her mind…

Everyone around Harumi City simply referred to this as some kind of new illness. People where collapsing into deep sleeps, their vital signs would plummet, and a few days later, they would die, but alas, she knew the truth.

Negumi started talking, without her eyes budging away from the two people who sat on the floor with her, "That new illness called Sleep Sickness… The media try to make out that it's some kind of epidemic that we can cure… but it's caused by those demons… People who have their souls trapped inside the Dreamscape become like that… I would know… I lost a friend in there…"

The silence became deafening for the longest time when the truth was revealed by Negumi… So THAT was how she already knew about the Dreamscape?

"Asano… I… You should have said something…" When Mike heard the horrible reality of what Negumi had already gone through he wanted nothing more than to try and do something to help. She had been his best friend since he arrived in this country.

All he got from the Martial Artist was a gentle shake of the head, "It was a while ago… Don't worry…"

Meanwhile, Tsukiyo was simply sat in her place beside Mike. Everything that was said, she had taken in attentively. It made her stomach turn with a deep sickness. The reason for that? Her body shuddered while her fragile heart started to sink into an abyss…

Tears began to leak from Tsuki's eyes. They were silent, but this sudden show of deep emotion was enough to make both her fellow persona users stop in deep reflection.

"Cailin-San?" Negumi spoke in a gentle tone.

"My little brother, Taiyo… He… He…" Those silent tears became truly heart wrenching sobs from Tskiyo. Her body shuddered as those crystal tears kept pouring.

"He… has Sleep Sickness…" Those words came from Tsuki's mouth as little more than whispers.

Even though Negumi was usually the last one to be stirred by emotional things, hearing such words caused a little gasp to escape her lips. This was something that hit very close to home for her…

All the while Tsukiyo could do nothing but cry… She cried, and cried and cried… In the end, Mike couldn't watch this anymore without it affecting him. He was level headed by nature, but seeing a woman cry broke his heart. It truly did.

Without even thinking about the potential danger an instinct that was buried deep within the core of Mr Lennox sparked to life. It was something dormant that was waiting to be awakened… A form of strength had begun to burn deep within his soul. It was the ability to take charge.

The young British man placed a comforting hand on Tsuki's shoulder, "Then we'll get him back…"

Through tear drenched eyes Tsukiyo slowly glanced up at the man who set beside her… She remained as quiet as earlier, until her distraught expression slowly morphed into a faint smile, "Really?"

"YES!" Negumi spoke over Mike. "If you're willing to put such trust into us even though you only met us today, then… we have no problem helping you! Use my strength to help get your little brother back!"

Lennox was a little surprised, but his face held a smile of approval, "Asano's right… We've been thrown in the deep end and we gotta rely on teamwork to get out in one piece…"

These two people really did seem to be filled with kindness and compassion. While Negumi came across as filled with strength and determination, her Sempai Lennox seemed to be the kind of person who was very dependable. Even if things got tough, no matter the problem, he would be there.

It filled Tsukiyo's wounded heart with a feeling of warmth, "THANK YOU… Both of you…" Miss Cailin was feeling a little happier with their support, a gentle smile slowly forming on her lips.

It was starting to get late, that much was true… No matter how grateful Tsuki was for their help, they couldn't stay in the school building forever. Mike reached for the cell phone in his jacket pocket, and checked the time, "We should go home," He spoke.

Both the girls looked at one another, then back to him, with a nod of agreement.

Mikey sprung to his feet energetically, "We'll take my car…"

* * *

**Harumi City: Yamato Strip Mall (Wednesday 8:33pm)**

A small four door convertible, green in colour with a European licence plate, pulled up outside the strip mall, one of Harumi city's areas. In the front was Mike, relaxing in the driver's seat.

It was a big three story complex that had a great selection. On the ground floor there was an arcade along with a bunch of eateries! On the second floor of this towering commercial giant there was a twenty-four hour grocery store along with a women's clothing boutique, and the third floor? Well, a video rental store along with a Karaoke bar and a Japanese pub. At the very height of this artistically designed structure you could see the Japanese flag proudly flying for all to see.

Even late in the evening this place was still rather busy! A lot of people piled into

Plus running off into the back alleys that lead away from the mall were a couple of the more shady drinking establishments of Harumi city. You would often find yourself a woman of the night drifting around to intercept a drunken businessman…

In truth Mike was a little surprised when Negumi asked him if he could drop her and Tsukiyo off at Yamato promenade so they could eat, but still, he didn't mind the extra bit of distance. To him driving was a very enjoyable thing. It helped him relax.

Once Lennox backed into a parking spot he applied the handbrake with a CLICK! Once the car was steadied he turned. Negumi and Tsuki, were both in the back, talking quietly to one another.

"Alrighty! We're here!" Mike announced.

Negumi broke away from her conversation with Tsuki for a second to she could give Mike a thankful pat on the shoulder, "Thank you! We're stopping here for dinner. You want to join us, Sempai?"

A shy Tsuki looked at Mike with quietly hopeful eyes. It seemed like she wanted him to join the two of them this evening.

"Naaa… Sorry, but I'm gonna pass! Got me some Squid rolls waiting in the fridge at home!" Alas, Mike was busy it seemed.

For the slightest moment, Tsuki looked sad… Mike saw it, but quietly looked away. Whenever this girl looked sad it made him feel sad as well for some reason.

Negumi on the other hand just gave a little chuckle and hopped out of the car, "Fine with me Sempai. You go and enjoy that Sushi of yours. WE on the other hand, are going to Yummy-Burger!"

Yummy Burger… One of Harumi City's most questionable local burger chains. It made Mike shudder for a moment thinking about it, "Enjoy that lovely processed cow! I'm going home to eat REAL food!"

Of course, there was no other response to be given from Negumi apart from a light punch on the arm for Mike's comment, "Sempai, you're a baka… Cailin-San… Shall we go?"

Tsuki seemed a little flustered when her mentioned, "OH.. Uh… Yes!"

Once the second girl departed from the car Mike was left alone in the driver's seat! He felt his a slight bit of empathy right about now… He really did after Tsuki's earlier confession…

"Miss Cailin?" He called.

Honestly, Lennox should have been using honorifics, but this choice of naming just kind of stuck.

Tsuki spun her heels a little, apparently looking even more flustered, "…Yes Lennox-San?"

Mikey was quiet for more than a couple of seconds. He was finding the right way to try and express his compassion. In the end, his light lips formed a soft curved smile, "You keep smiling, okay? Always keep smiling…"

It really didn't look like Tsuki had clue what to actually say… Her face flushed bright red, and she tried to hide her cheeks. For a moment she stuttered, then looked back up with a shy smile, "….Thank you… The same to you…"

Lennox was about ready to make his exit from there! He gave Negumi thumbs up, "Later, Asano. See you and Miss Cailin tomorrow."

Once the handbrake was off the Brit took a quick moment to get his bearings. When he was all set to go he wasted no time at all. His foot came punching down on the accelerator, and off he went with a loud ear-splitting screech of the tires.

Negumi really couldn't believe what she just heard from her Sempai. She wasn't sure if this was compassion or something else entirely. Either way, this wasn't a side he often showed around people he just met. Something about it felt strange to her…

Shrugging it off, Asano's eyes fell upon Tsuki, who still had the lightest red flush on her face still. Maybe Mike was just trying to be supportive?

Still, Negumi sighed hopelessly, "Next time he says something that bothers you, I can just punch him if you like?"

Honestly though, Tsuki looked a little scared when Negumi made that offer to her, "Oh…Oh no... It's quite alright, really Asano-san. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

With Mike now gone and food awaiting the two young women, they turned their backs to gaze at the massive shopping mall. Negumi was the one who took the lead rather energetically, and Tsukiyo followed closely behind.

The smell of burgers was their guiding beacon!

On this evening another chapter came to a close… From this point on however, Negumi, Tsukiyo and Mike would stand united as one. The next time they entered the dreamscape they would be a team. Their mission… It was to save Tsuki's little brother from the hands of the demons!

Would they be capable of succeeding? More importantly, would they really be able to work as a team in the face of such odds? Not a single one of them knew the answer just yet. Only time would tell…

**End of chapter 8**


	9. Fun Time at Yummy Burger

**Chapter 9: Fun Time at Yummy Burger**

**Yummy Burger (Wednesday 8.50pm)**

Negumi and Tsukiyo were sat in a corner booth near the window of the little eating establishment. Painted across the wall behind them both was an overly large picture of the food chain's mascot. It hadn't changed in years, since both Tsukiyo and Negumi were little girls in kindergarten.

There was a slight shudder from Asano-san when she looked back to examine him again. That picture seriously did give her the creeps… When she was about five or six she found him adorable, but as age took its course she came to find him overly strange…

Masako Man was basically a giant burger with arms and legs! It was seriously tacky for older people, but little kids seemed to love that concept. Those beady eyes that he gazed at people with from atop his bun shaped head really freaked people out sometimes though. There was no denying that one. Lolling out of his mouth between the burger patties was a slice of cheese that supposedly represented his tongue. Plus, his little stick legs brandished red lacy shoes!

"Wow… That guy never stops getting bizarre," Negumi spoke as she picked up a couple of fries from the carton to scoff them down.

For the first time since they both arrived Tsukiyo had a warm little smile on her face, "Oh, I don't know! I think he's a little cute," Was what she said with a little chuckle.

Once another handful of fries were mercilessly consumed Negumi grabbed her double cheeseburger from the tray, "You're a little strange, Cailin-San… Friendly, but strange," The cheeseburger was violently chomped after Asano finished.

Strange was a word that Tsuki had been called many times by people during her life. The fact that it was meant playfully in this case caused a shy little smile, "I heard that a lot in my old school."

Even though it was late at night this eatery was pretty busy! A lot of folks claimed that the place wasn't renowned for the best hygiene standards in town, which honestly didn't seem surprising. There was a simple little answer to explain a small local chain like Yummy Burger stayed open though. It seriously wasn't all that prices compared to all the others places!

Still, Negumi couldn't help but overhear Tsukiyo mention her old school just a moment ago. She was overly curious in truth. This long haired girl sat opposite her was another transfer student, just like Sempai.

Curiousity was overpowering the young martial artist, so she just had to ask, "Tell me, Cailin San! What was your old school like? It was in America, right?"

"Oh, yes! That's right!" Tsukiyo elegantly put the chicken wrap in her hands down, "I went to a school in Chicago for about four years! It was really crowded. More so than schools over here…"

After another big chomp of her burger Negumi leaned forward with an exited face, "Give me all the gossip! I want to know about the people, and the place?! What was it all like? It must be really strange studying overseas."

This was something Tsuki really wasn't sure where to start on! People hadn't taken such a great interest before, "Well… People in America are like here, I suppose… Some are really nice, and others… not so much… Oh, but Chicago was lovely! They call it the Windy City!"

It seemed like Tsukiyo was starting to come out of her shell a little here. She smiled, and then leaned back slightly into her seat, "They have one of the biggest airports in the world there, along with really big baseball stadiums, and some VERY nice art galleries."

All the while, Negumi was perched on the edge of her seat, her ears listened eagerly! She looked like she was really impressed by what she was hearing, "This is more fun than when Lennox-Sempai told me about London," She announced.

"Ohhh, and there's more too! Their schools are so much bigger than ours. They have thousands and thousands of students." Tsuki took a little sip of her milkshake, "Different nationalities and cultures too… That was something I really enjoyed about America…"

"Different nationalities, hmm?" Negumi certainly did look interested there. "We only have about five or six international students in our whole school!"

Tsukiyo smiled softly as she took aboard Negumi's response, "May I ask you something, Asano-San?"

"Well of course! Please, go ahead," The slender Japanese girl spoke.

Suddenly though, Tsukiyo went a little quiet. She was unsure how to ask such a question, "How long have you known Lennox-san? Has it been a long time?"

NOW, Negumi was somewhat taken aback by the question she was just asked. She wasn't expecting that right there! She took a moment to find the words, "Me and Sempai go back a couple of years! He arrived at the academy when he was 17… He can be an idiot sometimes, but still… he's my best guy friend…"

There was a soft smile on Tsuki's face when Negumi answered her, "I just wondered, that was all, really. When you spoke about international students I was curious… Well… I'm a… mixed girl myself… My dad is American, and mum is Japanese…"

"REALLY?!" Negumi asked rather loudly, "That is SOOOOO cool! My dad is just plain old Japanese, same as most people round here I bet."

It was true that a lot of people in this city seemed to come from all different walks of life, but different nationalities were less heard of! The thought Tsukiyo having parents from two different countries was actually really cool for Negumi.

Right there, the rather slender Martial artist let out a sly smile, "Well then… That explains your curves, Cailin-San."

In an instant Tsukiyo's face went bright red like a traffic light! Her little heart began to flutter nervously in her chest and she looked down at her food on the try. Rather timidly, the Japanese beauty twiddled her thumbs, "I… I erm… I don't know what to say to you, Asano-San…"

"Heeeey!" Negumi called cheerfully. "You should take that as a compliment, Cailin-San! Boys in our school should be falling over their feet to ask you to eat lunch with them! Saaay… Did you have a boyfriend in your old school?"

It was truly adorable the way that Tsukiyo's cheeked burned the brightest shade of crimson when Negumi asked her that question. Like a little shy mouse she placed her hands on her warm cheeks.

"Errr… No." She uttered. "There is… Someone in our school that I think is nice to look at though, but I… haven't seen much. He isn't in my class…"

"You're so innocent, you know that?" Negumi gave a slightly irregular smile. "Just relax and let yourself out! I'm a friendly girl! Don't let the way I punch Sempai throw you off!"

That was something that Tsukiyo was a little unnerved by in truth. The way Negumi punched Lennox was something she wasn't used to seeing. More strangely was how he remained a gentleman and just took it. Perhaps it was just one of their things?

"Okay… I'll try my best, Asano-san…" Tsukiyo said with a nervous little smile.

* * *

**Outside the Mall (Wednesday 10pm)**

Onward this conversation would go for another hour, before it came to an end. In that time Negumi would have herself a second portion of food, and Tsukiyo sat there in awe as she devoured all the food placed in front of her. If one thing was for sure this girl could certainly eat.

Time kept passing by and before long both young ladies knew that it would be better for them to head home. Once the last of the food was all gone Tsukiyo walked back outside with Negumi to the entrance of the mall.

It was getting seriously cold outside, but still Negumi rubbed her hands together, turning to give Tsuki-san a grateful smile, "It was fun getting to know you a little! We should totally talk more in school Cailin-san!"

This was a first for Miss Cailin as well! For the first time in a very long period she found herself in a warm and friendly situation with someone she could call a friend. It was really nice…

Tsukiyo put her school bag over her shoulder and gave a friendly nod of agreement, "Of course. I would really like that. Shall we talk tomorrow in school?"

Of course, Negumi was in a pretty good mood here even with the cold weather. She was quick to give her trademark thumbs up, with her tomboyish smile, "You betcha! We can find each other at lunch break! I should go now though! I don't want to miss the bus! See you later, Cailin-san!"

Negumi was indeed right. Now would be a good time to head home. It was true that Tsukiyo's house would still be empty of people at this time, but it was dark, so she would be safer at home.

"Have a safe journey home. I will see you tomorrow, Asano-san." Tsukiyo said that rather warmly.

Without any further delay Negumi began to make her way toward the nearest bus stop. It would be quite a long ride home from the mall, but she had enjoyed tonight, so it was worth it.

Once she saw Negumi leave, Tsukiyo was quick to hurry along to the train station. In truth, this was the longest she had been out for something social in a very long time. Still, she enjoyed it to no end this evening…

"Asano San… She has a very strong personality, but I can see she has a kind heart." Tsukiyo spoke in reflection.

Both girls didn't know it yet, but this would be the start of a long lasting friendship. Not only was that fantastic, but the bond they forged today be something that would survive their hardships to come. It was something they would both need to survive the deeply malicious power with took root within the dreamscape.

The hearts of these two young woman, had opened to the path of another Arcana….

**Tsukiyo had taken her first step into understanding the barer of the Strength Arcana. (Level 1)**

**Likewise, Negumi had gained an insight into the young lady who bore the moon Arcana (Level 1)**

**End of chapter 9**


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